Especially how he said that WJ and AC are the only major airlines. I think that Porter, Air Transat, Flair, Lynx, JetLines, etc have been quite major in 2022-24
@@andrewisvrycool nah I’d say calling AC and WJ the two major carriers in Canada is correct for now at least. Fleet size and number of passengers carried no one compares to them.
@@nemdance I was not saying that southwest was anywhere near the position of #1 on the large chart of airlines in the US. I was simply putting out that on that top ten list that you so helpfully mentioned, Southwest outranks Spirit in airline size and reviews. I understand your original comment was pointing out that spirit is among the biggest, but in response to that I was just trying to present that Southwest should outrank spirit. Outrank is used here in the connotation that it is better or bigger and is closer to the top of the list as in #1.
@@PositiveRateAv ok so spirit is among the biggest airlines. Who outranks who is irrelevant, that’s why I thought you didn’t know English and I’m still not convinced lol.
Historically, the airtravel competition game in Canada seems to basically consist of: "If you make yourself a big enough nuisance to AC, they will eventually buy you out."
And how many times has the government bailout AC two times that I know of and if you live within 150 miles to the US it’s still cheaper to drive there and fly american airlines
Flair apparently owes 60 something million in taxes to the CRA and their assets were supposedly being seized. Lynx just filed for creditor protection because of huge operating costs. Really sucks to lose airline competition
Don't forget vast distances to reach fewer customers, whether flying passengers or shipping goods. Wages are generally higher in Canada too. Steeper operating costs either translate into higher prices for the consumer or lower profits for the business.
Don’t forget government protection. This is why infrastructure and technology is so far behind other countries. They don’t let any foreign competitors inside to protect the monopolies here
Canada is 10 times smaller than USA. Yes, we do protect some sectors : Bank, Airlines, TV Station, internet and phone services, for instance. USA should start protect their own culture ! Try to get served in english in a Floridian wal-Mart for instance. Spanish is Everywhere. Time to protect english... and your border.@@itachi93674
Only 4 major airlines in the US? What about Southwest? I'd say they're more popular than Spirit. And don't forget Jetblue Alaskan and frontier. There's your 8 major airlines
For more than 20 years, I regularly traveled between Alberta and New Brunswick. After only a few years, Westjet ceased serving those routes, thus leaving only one option. It always pained me that I could travel to Europe for significantly less than within Canada! Whenever I received a customer satisfaction survey from AC, I always commented that I only fly with them as I have no other choice!
Canada also has expensive ATC fees per nautical mile to fly over Canadian airspace. Many airlines going to and from Europe to the US will often fly longer over America towards New England instead of a straight line over Hudson Bay because it's more cost efficient.
Everything here is expensive. The issue is lack of competition and the government supporting and subsizing monopolies. Up to a few years, ago it was about $400 for a one way flight from Vancouver to Toronto. But the intro of more airlines serving the routes has helped drive prices down. But even the smaller airlines entering the market are being bought out or merged into bigger airlines.
Flair Airlines, which was a low cost charter just closed down due to what you stated in this video. It's really hard for airlines to stay alive here unless you are Air Canada and are helped by the government
Seems the Canadian government needs to A.Introduce a version of the kind of subsidies that they have in the US and elsewhere (IIRC the US calls it the "Essential Air Service") to bring down the cost of flights to all those little towns that don't have much traffic but where air travel is essential, B.Cut airport and navigation fees to make flights cheaper across the board and C.Open the market to more competition (including foreign operations) that will put downward pressure on prices.
A already exists in a roundabout way in the form of the existing taxes, it is so extremely expensive to fly to the extreme remote north as it stands that the taxes on the south subsidize the north. B is not really feasible considering the general tax base is already strained, and C is enough of a national security issue that no country lets another control their domestic air travel. Even UPS and FedEx Express have local partners who operate their domestic air freight services in Canada.
@@sblack53 Most importantly no country will open their sky unless the other open their sky too. In Canada's case, if the USA doesn't open their sky to foreign carriers to fly domestic routes why would Canada open the sky to US carriers for domestic services? Similarly to the Post Brexit UK, both EasyJet & Ryanair set up separate UK ownerships just so that they could fly the UK domestic routes.
3:13 "Canada is one of the most expensive places to operate an airline. Fees, taxes, and charges for airports, air traffic control, security, and other shared services are among the highest of any country in Canada." That is quite true, but at the same, time, it is true that fees, taxes, and charges for airports, air traffic control, security, and other shared services in Canada are the very lowest of any country in Canada.
The significant disparity in capacity among airlines here in the US is remarkable. During my time at YYC, profitability was a prerequisite for virtually every flight to a given destination. Conversely, in the US, I've observed multiple flights to certain destinations, with only a subset proving profitable. Nevertheless, these profitable flights are sufficient to maintain the destination's schedule and ensure overall profitability. The emphasis on frequency and flexibility is essential to remain competitive in this market. It's truly like comparing two different worlds.
I believe airlines in the US are often required to serve less-lucrative markets in order to get the ability to fly the highly profitable ones as well. Also air traffic control and airport maintenance are subsidized more by the government in the US than Canada. Passenger air travel is actually one place Canada is more “free market” than the States.
Yes domestically airfares in Canada are higher than the USA and much of Europe. That being said it is generally cheaper to fly from Canada to both Europe and Asia. The Vancouver airport has a steady stream of people driving up from Washington State as prices are substantially cheaper to Asia and Europe than from Seattle. Vancouver has far more international competition than Seattle does.
One of the glaring inaccuracies is that the federal government doesn’t own the airports. In the 90s, the government handed over authority of the airports to the municipalities. Because there is no rules as to how much they charge, cities use airport improvement fees as a cash cow to bankroll city budgets. All in all it was a very poorly researched story.
Same as Indonesia. It's known that if they want to fly domestic between Indonesian island, it's cheaper to transit in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), than transit in Jakarta (Indonesia)
One issue you didn't mention is that the USA also restricts "domestic" airlines to less than 50% foreign ownership. And one cannot fly between two USA cities on a foreign carrier. I once was going on Air Canada from Washington, D.C., to Ottawa to San Jose. I had to book separate tickets from DC to Ottawa and from Ottawa to San Jose. It's the rule south of the line as well.
It’s e everywhere. It’s part of the common laws that govern aviation. That’s why the industry is so heavily regulated and barriers to entry is costly. In many countries flag carriers rule while others like the US have more options but the tax payer is always left to pick up the tab when these airlines are in trouble because they’re deemed essential to fail.
Bingo! The video makes it seem like only Canada is protectionist when almost all nations have these rules as they are seen as a national security/interest and rightly so.. Imagine in a crisis that a foreign power cut your national airline to nothing because of a political beef or grudge...
From a tourist perspective, its not just airlines. Australian to USA exchange rate is 'painful' compared to Canadian exchange rate. The killer is Canada's costs for travel, accomodation etc, makes for a 'just as expensive' trip. Not good!!!
Good explanation, the major issue is how the government has structured the costs. The US government invests in the infrastructure and creates a better commercial environment. Unfortunately the Canadian government treats the industry as a cash cow and the expenses are passed on to the consumers. Part of the costs are also absorbed by the airlines which in turn narrows the margins ( profits ).
My family of four went on a 14 day vacation in Japan, and then spent 5 days with family in Vancouver on the way home. The 5 days in Vancouver accounted for more than half the trips cost!
4:32 Lynx Air ceases operation today Monday February 26, 2024. Airport costs, cited as the major factor, amongst other taxes and regulation costs, fees etc, etc, etc. For the record I enjoyed my flights on Lynx Air😪
If American low-cost airlines were allowed into the Canadian market they would compete for the cream cross-border flights such as Los Angeles to Toronto or Montreal and Atlanata. But they would certainly not be competing to bring low-cost fares to cross-Canada routes between places like Saskatoon, Yellowknife and Moncton.
You missed what’s obviously the fourth largest airline in the United States, which is southwest airlines. Southwest airlines is one hard to miss airline.
Hey man you forgot to put this info as I'm a Canadian and lived to see the prices double... long story short Air Canada used to be a crown corporation, which means it was owned by the federal government of Canada, before it was privatized by the Federal Conservatives of the time. It was the dumbest thing any federal government did because it doubled the prices and it was the only airlines we had when I was a kid and westjet came to the scene as a cost effective airlines and that's how westjet became the 2nd major airlines in canada
Flights within Canada have been so much cheaper in my experience the past 2 years. A similar route in the States seems to be double and a transborder route is often 3x. US airlines are definitely price gouging while there is too much competition right now in Canada.
@@acerIOstream I check! I saved about CA$20 on an upcoming Westjet flight (that was already bargain basement, US$63.48 total on a transborder flight from Vegas) by using their US website to pay in USD instead of CAD.
The only non stop choice Montreal to Winnipeg is Air Canada. $520 one way high season. We could have paid $296 if we took a crop duster to Toronto, waited 4 hours connecting, the WestJet to Winnipeg. WestJet used to fly non-stop and the flights were always packed with prices in the $300 range. Covid killed it.
TLDW: Not enough population which leads to monopolies. And Canada limits foreign direct investments, which lets existing monopolies continue uninterrupted
I'm wondering if Canadians pay a "real" cost for flying, instead of other countries which subsidize that cost. This wouldn't be unheard of since Canada has marketing boards for eggs and milk so farmers can make a decent living for their products, unlike the US and European countries where those products are subsidized. Canadians will pay more for eggs and milk than their American neighbours, but that allows for small family farms, which are being priced out of business in the US since incentives to be big eliminate those smaller players.
This is not only for air travel, If you look at a hotel in Canada booked in Canada vs the same hotel in Canada booked from the US there are big differences. Canadians pay a higher price vs if you book the hotel from the US. This can easily be seen using VPN software.
What is the price difference? I will look into this. I have recently setup a US chequing account though RBC and am curious about looking into this. Do you have a preferred VPN provider?
What is the price difference? I will look into this. I have recently setup a US chequing account though RBC and am curious about looking into this. Do you have a preferred VPN provider?
@@dougpatterson7494 I just use my vpn from norton. I live in the US, but I have family that lives in Canada. We had a family event the hotel was booked from Canada at over 200 CAD per night, When I looked from the US it was around 110 USD.
One of the big downsides of Canada is monopolies. Not only in flights, but also in telecoms, internet services, food, and several other key sectors. Canadian government does make it a lot harder for newcomers to come into the market.
...and probably the main reason why lowcosts grew up in Europe so quickly is that Europe has very good infrastructure in terms of public transport which allows people to travel from big cities into the more distanced but more cheaper airports. Because lowcosts mostly do not land on main big airports... they use smaller airports that are still reachable from big cities. For instance in London lowcosts do not land on Heathrow... they use Gatwick, Stansted or Luton instead... or instead of Barcelona lowcosts use Girona, instead of Vienna they use Bratislava... and there are many many other examples like that.
Frontier airlines from Fargo, to Denver is cheap too, I flew with them before Christmas weekend, saved over $800 Canadians dollars from my hometown in Canada, just 4 drive south in Dakota.
I think I had a ticket base fair for $13, with $56 of taxes/airport fees on it. I bought it a couple months in advance and was Toronto Pearson to Calgary. I think it was one way mid week too. No carry on and just a small personal item under the seat in front. Basically min/maxed the the ticket. For contrast a flight from Toronto City Billy Bishop to Timmins was i believe 400-600 ish dollars (with a different airline it was $1000) so, the flight was a 1/4 the time but 6-8x the price. Now Timmins isn’t a popular destination flight but, it just shows the ridiculous price range of budget flights vs a not so popular route.
Domestic flight cost is never about distance, but demand vs supply, LOL I don't think capital restriction is a problem, Canada is developed economy and with all kinds of capital if profitability presents. Geographical / demographic character is not an issue either, that Most Canadian actually live across that 49 degree line (Montreal - Toronto - Calgary - Vancouver) perfect model for air transport. I best Canadian is actually more densely populated than US, coz the 30m Canadian actually live near the border. The only problem is economy of scale, now with more ULCC introduced, Toronto to Vancouver is about CA$150, Canada is just need time to pickup
Even if foreign-owned airlines could operate domestic flights in Canada, they are highly unlikely to have any interst in doing so. They would be faced with the same high operating costs as Canadian airlines. Would point out that foreign airlines also cannot oprrate domestic flights in the U.S. and almost all other coumtries apart from the EU single market and rare exceptions like the Australia-New Zealand single market which permits Australian airlines to operate within New Zealand and vice versa.
To be fair, Air Canada could also not get the approval to fly NYC - SFO in the US. They would need to have a stopover in Canada. The US also protects its air transport market. Air Canada is in Star Alliance though, so Air Canada can offer NYC to SFO - on a United plane. And you can get Calgary - Frankfurt via Toronto and then via Lufthansa (Star Alliance!) to Frankfurt. And you forgot Southwest. And that competition thing is not the correct answer. Canada is just 90% uninhabited land. With a population density less than Russia. There will never be any competition due to that. Air Canada even loses money on Canadian domestic routes. Huge landmass - very distant cities - but very few people and therefore very few passengers - you name it. The competition is therefore not Edmonton to Toronto compared with a similar distance in the US - but a United flight from Edmonton to Detroit International and from there to Toronto Pearson International. And this includes 2x border inspection fees on your ticket plus international handling fees.
Since I had my first flight and all flights taken with them since for over 30 years. Air Canada has been good to me. And they've actually been accomodating from my experience on multiple occasions. And every decade seeing the new additions and comforts they have on their newer planes was always nice. Im not saying its top top tier. But a good mid level. I guess just been lucky.
The only major airline is Air Canada who keeps prices high but will aggressively cuts prices in hubs when new airlines start up to shut them down before they can get going. By cut prices, I mean they will sell tickets at a loss and fill up gates to put the other company out of business. For the prices, we might as go back to the original Crown Corporation. At least there was good service and coverage for the money back then. Prices have only gone down until you add the *optional* fees tacked on by the airlines that can double or triple prices
It’s really volume and population for sure. The thing about the other airlines that make up the remaining 20% WestJet and Air Canada own one each which are completely no frills. It’s the same thing with Cell Phones. We have three major carriers and 5 or 6 small companies that really don’t have the same kind of service or support. We need Verizon or T Mobile to come up here and say Delta or Southwest to come up here also. Everything is so expensive in Canada. We get taxed on everything at a super high rate.
It looks a lot like Brazil. High taxes, little competition, restrictions on foreign companies, complex geography, infrastructure problems. The big difference is that our population is much larger than Canada's, but we don't have the same purchasing power. So air travel is restricted to a small part of society. Most people travel by bus because it's much more affordable.
This last Christmas my GF had to fly back home for a funeral. We live in BC and she had to go to manitoba the cost was unreal at $1200 ONE WAY. with over $1600 in luggage insurance. And this was a flight from Vancouver to Winnipeg.
Canadians who live near the border also cross into the US to drive to other points in Canada - especially to avoid the two-lane Trans-Canada in Northwestern Ontario. If I were driving from Winnipeg to Montreal, I'd go through the US. Canadian roads aren't as good either :(
Funny, since I’ve started flying domestically in Canada more over the past 4 years, I find flights quite reasonable, especially given how small our market is. I do fly out of or in to Toronto a lot, but it always seems reasonable, unless booking last minute in a busy time. Every time I book a flight to the states, I check from the nearest US airport (for example, detroit to phoenix instead of toronto to phoenix) and it’s rarely cheaper. I routinely fly from Toronto to Calgary for $130 CAD each way with Air Canada, a full service airline which frankly, I have found to be on par with any other airline I’ve flown domestically (including US and Europe). Flying in Canada should be more expensive than the US for a lot of flights, thats just the way the economy works.
the only US airline I could see being allowed to operate Canadian domestic routes is United, and that's BECAUSE they have a partnership with Air Canada, so they would likely not actually compete.
There should be an investigation into the airport authorities! Calgary spent a positively scandalous amount, 1.3 billion, on airport improvements!! They are now financially "mugging" anyone and any airline foolish enough to go anywhere near the airport property. I parked my vehicle in the parkade for 30 minutes and was puzzled at lack of other cars in the facility. I found out why it was empty when I tried to exit and they charged me $25.00!! I shudder to imagine what they charge retail tenants! It also explains why Air Canada and others have reduced their presence at YYC so much. The airport authorities REALLY need to be scrutinized.....
Canada doesn’t subsidize air traffic control or airports nearly as much as other countries. Air travel is one a the very few places Canada is more “free market” than the USA.
I spent a major part of my working career flying all over Canada in my business. I never once enjoyed flying Air Canada, probably because they didn't have to try hard, being government subsidized for one and two because they were unionized, so pretty much unaccountable to customers.🎉 At the time Westjet really cared about its employees and this showed in the staff's attitude. So, I flew Westjet, but then they got greedy and things went South, as they say. With the general poor attitude at Canadian airports and all the fees they charge, I go out of my way to cross the border and fly from the US for any of my travels. Even with the exchange rate, flights are so much cheaper that it's worth the hassle to fly from the US.
Canada dosn't allow foreign carriers to pick up additional passengers flying in Canada. Say Asian carriers stop at Vancouver then fly to Toronto cannot fill up empty seats. Ethiopian Airways flies from Addis Ababa to Tokyo and then to Seoul can pick up passengers in between. There is absolutely no competition in Canada with high taxes and restrictions. The airports are inferior compared to Asia and very expensive.
Canada subsidizes air travel much less than other countries. Airport fees don’t make the government money but they pay for costs not requiring money from general tax revenue. I’m not saying this is good or bad but just pointing out this is one of the few instances Canada is more “free market” than the United States.
Not being from North America I have been to Canada only once but I could tell that air Canada and travel in general must be embarrassing for them. I saw a flight to Paris from Montreal was more than one to Moncton
I gotta say inviting foreign companies to Canada seems like a bizarre answer to the problem...will Canadian companies be permitted to operate domestically in the United States if this happened I think not....also you never mentioned the enormous demand for deicing fluid....that stuff is like spraying buckets of money on the plane...
3:00 "Break their trust in Air Canada"... Most Canadians put more faith in politicians than Air Canada.🤣
The current Liberal Government is certainly bucking that trend. I wouldn’t trust them running a hotdog stand, let alone an airline.
Fully came to the comments to say I don't know a single person who trusts Air Canada with anything!
*oof* 🗿🗿🗿
Westjet is no better... That one like Boeing is a race to the bottom and its future depends on those crap MAX jets too! No thanks...
I believe it. My worst travel experience was on Air Canada, will never fly them again
Some of the errors in the video almost makes it seem like it was written by AI
I got that sense too
Things are repeated constantly.
@@John.F_Kennedy that too
Especially how he said that WJ and AC are the only major airlines. I think that Porter, Air Transat, Flair, Lynx, JetLines, etc have been quite major in 2022-24
@@andrewisvrycool nah I’d say calling AC and WJ the two major carriers in Canada is correct for now at least. Fleet size and number of passengers carried no one compares to them.
Air Canada’s motto is “We’re not happy until you’re not happy!”
Lols, it should be!
and they fulfill that motto's premise on a daily basis
Spirit is not among the biggest at all, it's Southwest.
theres almost 400 airlines in the us, spirit is in the top 10...
@@nemdanceyeah but southwest outranks spirit by miles.
@@PositiveRateAv is English not your first language or something? Among the biggest doesn’t mean #1.
@@nemdance I was not saying that southwest was anywhere near the position of #1 on the large chart of airlines in the US. I was simply putting out that on that top ten list that you so helpfully mentioned, Southwest outranks Spirit in airline size and reviews. I understand your original comment was pointing out that spirit is among the biggest, but in response to that I was just trying to present that Southwest should outrank spirit. Outrank is used here in the connotation that it is better or bigger and is closer to the top of the list as in #1.
@@PositiveRateAv ok so spirit is among the biggest airlines. Who outranks who is irrelevant, that’s why I thought you didn’t know English and I’m still not convinced lol.
Historically, the airtravel competition game in Canada seems to basically consist of: "If you make yourself a big enough nuisance to AC, they will eventually buy you out."
.. exact
. After chapter 9 a couple times gutting investors...so much corruption...
And how many times has the government bailout AC two times that I know of and if you live within 150 miles to the US it’s still cheaper to drive there and fly american airlines
Canada has a history of not encouraging competition between companies. It shows in too many businesses sectors
Depends on the number of passenger. Don't forget the amazing exchange rate.@@DenyseLRoss
In Canada, the answer to any price question is monopolies
Flair also offers direct flights between Montreal and Edmonton for around $150. Before Flair, Air Canada used to charge $1200.
RIP to Flair and now Lynx 💔
@@MrSpunkyWhale Rip???
Flair apparently owes 60 something million in taxes to the CRA and their assets were supposedly being seized. Lynx just filed for creditor protection because of huge operating costs. Really sucks to lose airline competition
@MrSpunkyWhale Oh, yeah, that's true. But I think Flair will be okay. Or at least I hope.😅
@@Mrnovanova
Lynx just went under.
It is cheaper to fly to europe from Montreal than within Canada ... and more options
You mean why everything in Canada is more expensive than US? The answer is monopolies and almost no competition. And add to that, high taxes.
Don't forget vast distances to reach fewer customers, whether flying passengers or shipping goods. Wages are generally higher in Canada too. Steeper operating costs either translate into higher prices for the consumer or lower profits for the business.
Don’t forget government protection. This is why infrastructure and technology is so far behind other countries. They don’t let any foreign competitors inside to protect the monopolies here
Canada has some pretty good lobbyists. Only a matter of time until Loblaws dips their hand into the airline game. Yaaaay ogilopolies!
Canada is 10 times smaller than USA. Yes, we do protect some sectors : Bank, Airlines, TV Station, internet and phone services, for instance. USA should start protect their own culture ! Try to get served in english in a Floridian wal-Mart for instance. Spanish is Everywhere. Time to protect english... and your border.@@itachi93674
@@itachi93674 The USA does not allow foreign airlines to fly domestic flights within the USA so why would Canada.
Only 4 major airlines in the US? What about Southwest? I'd say they're more popular than Spirit. And don't forget Jetblue Alaskan and frontier. There's your 8 major airlines
Spirit is a major airline? Perhaps Jetblue maybe because they are one step above spirit airlines from what i know
Spirit does more flights then sputh west .. south west is mostly in the west
@@danieltongaww right, thanks for the tip
@@danieltongaww south west is mostly in south west
Alaskan has been a relatively big player for over 40 years now.
Last summer I took Air-Canada from Bathurst, New-Brunswick to Montreal, Quebec and for a 90 minutes flight it cost me almost $700 and in a Dash-8.
That is why we drive instead.
Southwest is the third largest/most used, while fifth place Spirit + Jetblue is about 2/3 of United, the fourth largest, in size/ridership.
Spirit+Jetblue doesn't exist.
Southwest is 4 compare to the Big 3
errors really help to boost a video as people leave comments to correct it so youtube promotes the video as people apparently find it engaging.
For more than 20 years, I regularly traveled between Alberta and New Brunswick. After only a few years, Westjet ceased serving those routes, thus leaving only one option.
It always pained me that I could travel to Europe for significantly less than within Canada!
Whenever I received a customer satisfaction survey from AC, I always commented that I only fly with them as I have no other choice!
Used to have greyhound for budget travelers
Canada also has expensive ATC fees per nautical mile to fly over Canadian airspace. Many airlines going to and from Europe to the US will often fly longer over America towards New England instead of a straight line over Hudson Bay because it's more cost efficient.
there are many major us airlines, like American, Delta, United, Spirit, Frontier, Southwest, Jetblue, Alaska, and Hawaiian airlines
3:28 LOL HE SAID "A COUNTRY IN CANADA"!!!!! HAHAHAHA
For once the USA isn't the de-facto world. 🤣😂😆🤣😂
But yeah, Canada is the world champion in taxing the expletive out of everything.
its never that funny 💀
I thought I was crazy and hearing things, but nope!
He must be from Quebec
@@sirgeorgioalastrata4104 maybe Alberta
It's very much like Australia, with two dominant players that set prices and the need for a disrupter to help bring down prices.
That, and they don't allow foreign airlines come in to operate the domestic Australian market.
Just like the USA...@@Manawatu_Al2844
You should see the cost of groceries and housing across Canada - incredibly expensive.
Everything here is expensive. The issue is lack of competition and the government supporting and subsizing monopolies. Up to a few years, ago it was about $400 for a one way flight from Vancouver to Toronto. But the intro of more airlines serving the routes has helped drive prices down. But even the smaller airlines entering the market are being bought out or merged into bigger airlines.
The massive airline spirit 😂😂. I don’t know why that made me laugh so much
Need some flights between Bellingham WA and Niagara Falls NY and Plattsburgh NY
Thanks for the super, you're the first👍
Flair Airlines, which was a low cost charter just closed down due to what you stated in this video. It's really hard for airlines to stay alive here unless you are Air Canada and are helped by the government
Seems the Canadian government needs to A.Introduce a version of the kind of subsidies that they have in the US and elsewhere (IIRC the US calls it the "Essential Air Service") to bring down the cost of flights to all those little towns that don't have much traffic but where air travel is essential, B.Cut airport and navigation fees to make flights cheaper across the board and C.Open the market to more competition (including foreign operations) that will put downward pressure on prices.
You can thank the Liberal Party for that one
A already exists in a roundabout way in the form of the existing taxes, it is so extremely expensive to fly to the extreme remote north as it stands that the taxes on the south subsidize the north. B is not really feasible considering the general tax base is already strained, and C is enough of a national security issue that no country lets another control their domestic air travel. Even UPS and FedEx Express have local partners who operate their domestic air freight services in Canada.
Even don’t allow much foreign airlines and capital in aviation market investment for national security reason
@@sblack53 Most importantly no country will open their sky unless the other open their sky too.
In Canada's case, if the USA doesn't open their sky to foreign carriers to fly domestic routes why would Canada open the sky to US carriers for domestic services?
Similarly to the Post Brexit UK, both EasyJet & Ryanair set up separate UK ownerships just so that they could fly the UK domestic routes.
@@calebgiampa4705 You want them to slash the security budget?
3:13 "Canada is one of the most expensive places to operate an airline. Fees, taxes, and charges for airports, air traffic control, security, and other shared services are among the highest of any country in Canada."
That is quite true, but at the same, time, it is true that fees, taxes, and charges for airports, air traffic control, security, and other shared services in Canada are the very lowest of any country in Canada.
1:30 ain’t no way he used Spirit over Southwest
Probably for the same reason that telecommunication services are much cheaper in the US (There's more competition in the US)
The significant disparity in capacity among airlines here in the US is remarkable. During my time at YYC, profitability was a prerequisite for virtually every flight to a given destination. Conversely, in the US, I've observed multiple flights to certain destinations, with only a subset proving profitable. Nevertheless, these profitable flights are sufficient to maintain the destination's schedule and ensure overall profitability. The emphasis on frequency and flexibility is essential to remain competitive in this market. It's truly like comparing two different worlds.
I believe airlines in the US are often required to serve less-lucrative markets in order to get the ability to fly the highly profitable ones as well. Also air traffic control and airport maintenance are subsidized more by the government in the US than Canada. Passenger air travel is actually one place Canada is more “free market” than the States.
I wont lie, the suggestion that Canadians have faith in Air Canada made me laugh pretty hard
'Trust' in Air Canada? I couldn't stop laughing. I have zero trust in Air Canada or WestJet!
Europe is lucky to have Ryan Air.
People like to make jokes about them.
But they made longstanding impact forever
Yes domestically airfares in Canada are higher than the USA and much of Europe. That being said it is generally cheaper to fly from Canada to both Europe and Asia. The Vancouver airport has a steady stream of people driving up from Washington State as prices are substantially cheaper to Asia and Europe than from Seattle. Vancouver has far more international competition than Seattle does.
One of the glaring inaccuracies is that the federal government doesn’t own the airports. In the 90s, the government handed over authority of the airports to the municipalities. Because there is no rules as to how much they charge, cities use airport improvement fees as a cash cow to bankroll city budgets.
All in all it was a very poorly researched story.
Canada industry need to bring fierce competition.
The market NOT large enough.
Same as Indonesia. It's known that if they want to fly domestic between Indonesian island, it's cheaper to transit in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), than transit in Jakarta (Indonesia)
One issue you didn't mention is that the USA also restricts "domestic" airlines to less than 50% foreign ownership. And one cannot fly between two USA cities on a foreign carrier. I once was going on Air Canada from Washington, D.C., to Ottawa to San Jose. I had to book separate tickets from DC to Ottawa and from Ottawa to San Jose. It's the rule south of the line as well.
It’s e everywhere. It’s part of the common laws that govern aviation.
That’s why the industry is so heavily regulated and barriers to entry is costly. In many countries flag carriers rule while others like the US have more options but the tax payer is always left to pick up the tab when these airlines are in trouble because they’re deemed essential to fail.
Bingo! The video makes it seem like only Canada is protectionist when almost all nations have these rules as they are seen as a national security/interest and rightly so.. Imagine in a crisis that a foreign power cut your national airline to nothing because of a political beef or grudge...
From a tourist perspective, its not just airlines. Australian to USA exchange rate is 'painful' compared to Canadian exchange rate. The killer is Canada's costs for travel, accomodation etc, makes for a 'just as expensive' trip. Not good!!!
You forgot Seattle based Alaska Airlines.
Are you talking about CAD, USD, or both currencies when discussing prices?
Yup, most americans have no clue of the exchange rate.
Good explanation, the major issue is how the government has structured the costs.
The US government invests in the infrastructure and creates a better commercial environment.
Unfortunately the Canadian government treats the industry as a cash cow and the expenses are passed on to the consumers.
Part of the costs are also absorbed by the airlines which in turn narrows the margins ( profits ).
My family of four went on a 14 day vacation in Japan, and then spent 5 days with family in Vancouver on the way home. The 5 days in Vancouver accounted for more than half the trips cost!
Where do you get a flight from Van' to Montréal for only $339 ??
Flair
@@mcallard911
Flair is no more.
4:32 Lynx Air ceases operation today Monday February 26, 2024. Airport costs, cited as the major factor, amongst other taxes and regulation costs, fees etc, etc, etc. For the record I enjoyed my flights on Lynx Air😪
If American low-cost airlines were allowed into the Canadian market they would compete for the cream cross-border flights such as Los Angeles to Toronto or Montreal and Atlanata. But they would certainly not be competing to bring low-cost fares to cross-Canada routes between places like Saskatoon, Yellowknife and Moncton.
Saskatoon, Yellowknife and Moncton are not financially viable as none of them have the population to support it.
You missed what’s obviously the fourth largest airline in the United States, which is southwest airlines. Southwest airlines is one hard to miss airline.
And as of now, Southwest is now the third largest, overtaking United. Spirit isn’t even fifth, they’re seventh with Alaska and JetBlue ahead of them
Try Flair or Lynx, I flew from Toronto to Vancouver for just $62
Trust? Air Canada? Nawww there’s loads of Canadians that have zero trust in Air Canada and avoid them as much as possible.
Hey man you forgot to put this info as I'm a Canadian and lived to see the prices double... long story short Air Canada used to be a crown corporation, which means it was owned by the federal government of Canada, before it was privatized by the Federal Conservatives of the time. It was the dumbest thing any federal government did because it doubled the prices and it was the only airlines we had when I was a kid and westjet came to the scene as a cost effective airlines and that's how westjet became the 2nd major airlines in canada
Flights within Canada have been so much cheaper in my experience the past 2 years. A similar route in the States seems to be double and a transborder route is often 3x. US airlines are definitely price gouging while there is too much competition right now in Canada.
don't forget that our dollar is weak compared to the US dollar. It's not 3x weak, but it sure doesn't help.
@@acerIOstream I check! I saved about CA$20 on an upcoming Westjet flight (that was already bargain basement, US$63.48 total on a transborder flight from Vegas) by using their US website to pay in USD instead of CAD.
The only non stop choice Montreal to Winnipeg is Air Canada. $520 one way high season. We could have paid $296 if we took a crop duster to Toronto, waited 4 hours connecting, the WestJet to Winnipeg. WestJet used to fly non-stop and the flights were always packed with prices in the $300 range. Covid killed it.
TLDW: Not enough population which leads to monopolies. And Canada limits foreign direct investments, which lets existing monopolies continue uninterrupted
Namely domestic monopolies.
I'm wondering if Canadians pay a "real" cost for flying, instead of other countries which subsidize that cost. This wouldn't be unheard of since Canada has marketing boards for eggs and milk so farmers can make a decent living for their products, unlike the US and European countries where those products are subsidized. Canadians will pay more for eggs and milk than their American neighbours, but that allows for small family farms, which are being priced out of business in the US since incentives to be big eliminate those smaller players.
This is not only for air travel, If you look at a hotel in Canada booked in Canada vs the same hotel in Canada booked from the US there are big differences. Canadians pay a higher price vs if you book the hotel from the US. This can easily be seen using VPN software.
What is the price difference? I will look into this. I have recently setup a US chequing account though RBC and am curious about looking into this. Do you have a preferred VPN provider?
What is the price difference? I will look into this. I have recently setup a US chequing account though RBC and am curious about looking into this. Do you have a preferred VPN provider?
@@dougpatterson7494 I just use my vpn from norton. I live in the US, but I have family that lives in Canada. We had a family event the hotel was booked from Canada at over 200 CAD per night, When I looked from the US it was around 110 USD.
One of the big downsides of Canada is monopolies. Not only in flights, but also in telecoms, internet services, food, and several other key sectors. Canadian government does make it a lot harder for newcomers to come into the market.
...and probably the main reason why lowcosts grew up in Europe so quickly is that Europe has very good infrastructure in terms of public transport which allows people to travel from big cities into the more distanced but more cheaper airports. Because lowcosts mostly do not land on main big airports... they use smaller airports that are still reachable from big cities. For instance in London lowcosts do not land on Heathrow... they use Gatwick, Stansted or Luton instead... or instead of Barcelona lowcosts use Girona, instead of Vienna they use Bratislava... and there are many many other examples like that.
Frontier airlines from Fargo, to Denver is cheap too, I flew with them before Christmas weekend, saved over $800 Canadians dollars from my hometown in Canada, just 4 drive south in Dakota.
We have a BULLY PROTECTION PROGRAM in Canada where certain industries are well protected: Airlines, Telecommunications, LCBO (for Ontario), etc...
LCBO is provincially owned just like SAQ.
The answer is bureaucracy. They make it hard to create businesses. It has nothing to do with the population being small.
I think I had a ticket base fair for $13, with $56 of taxes/airport fees on it. I bought it a couple months in advance and was Toronto Pearson to Calgary. I think it was one way mid week too. No carry on and just a small personal item under the seat in front. Basically min/maxed the the ticket.
For contrast a flight from Toronto City Billy Bishop to Timmins was i believe 400-600 ish dollars (with a different airline it was $1000) so, the flight was a 1/4 the time but 6-8x the price.
Now Timmins isn’t a popular destination flight but, it just shows the ridiculous price range of budget flights vs a not so popular route.
4:35 a video showing Lynx air and they're literally shutting down tonight at 12am.
Domestic flight cost is never about distance, but demand vs supply, LOL
I don't think capital restriction is a problem, Canada is developed economy and with all kinds of capital if profitability presents.
Geographical / demographic character is not an issue either, that Most Canadian actually live across that 49 degree line (Montreal - Toronto - Calgary - Vancouver)
perfect model for air transport. I best Canadian is actually more densely populated than US, coz the 30m Canadian actually live near the border.
The only problem is economy of scale, now with more ULCC introduced, Toronto to Vancouver is about CA$150, Canada is just need time to pickup
Even if foreign-owned airlines could operate domestic flights in Canada, they are highly unlikely to have any interst in doing so. They would be faced with the same high operating costs as Canadian airlines. Would point out that foreign airlines also cannot oprrate domestic flights in the U.S. and almost all other coumtries apart from the EU single market and rare exceptions like the Australia-New Zealand single market which permits Australian airlines to operate within New Zealand and vice versa.
To be fair, Air Canada could also not get the approval to fly NYC - SFO in the US. They would need to have a stopover in Canada. The US also protects its air transport market. Air Canada is in Star Alliance though, so Air Canada can offer NYC to SFO - on a United plane. And you can get Calgary - Frankfurt via Toronto and then via Lufthansa (Star Alliance!) to Frankfurt.
And you forgot Southwest. And that competition thing is not the correct answer. Canada is just 90% uninhabited land. With a population density less than Russia. There will never be any competition due to that. Air Canada even loses money on Canadian domestic routes. Huge landmass - very distant cities - but very few people and therefore very few passengers - you name it.
The competition is therefore not Edmonton to Toronto compared with a similar distance in the US - but a United flight from Edmonton to Detroit International and from there to Toronto Pearson International. And this includes 2x border inspection fees on your ticket plus international handling fees.
Canada needs:
- Less Taxes
- Less Bureaucracy
- Less Monopolies
- More competition
Sounds like the same situation that exists in Australia.
I flew three ppl from TO to Edmonton and back for like 1200$ recently. Not too bad, the Airport fees were large and inflexible.
Since I had my first flight and all flights taken with them since for over 30 years. Air Canada has been good to me. And they've actually been accomodating from my experience on multiple occasions. And every decade seeing the new additions and comforts they have on their newer planes was always nice. Im not saying its top top tier. But a good mid level. I guess just been lucky.
3:24
"Among the highest of any *country* in *canada*
heh
Its been quite cheap lately, cheaper than US airlines!! United and delta fairs have skyrocketed in the last couple years.
The only major airline is Air Canada who keeps prices high but will aggressively cuts prices in hubs when new airlines start up to shut them down before they can get going. By cut prices, I mean they will sell tickets at a loss and fill up gates to put the other company out of business. For the prices, we might as go back to the original Crown Corporation. At least there was good service and coverage for the money back then. Prices have only gone down until you add the *optional* fees tacked on by the airlines that can double or triple prices
It’s really volume and population for sure. The thing about the other airlines that make up the remaining 20% WestJet and Air Canada own one each which are completely no frills. It’s the same thing with Cell Phones. We have three major carriers and 5 or 6 small companies that really don’t have the same kind of service or support. We need Verizon or T Mobile to come up here and say Delta or Southwest to come up here also. Everything is so expensive in Canada. We get taxed on everything at a super high rate.
6:01 cable car in Banff. Very cool.
It looks a lot like Brazil. High taxes, little competition, restrictions on foreign companies, complex geography, infrastructure problems. The big difference is that our population is much larger than Canada's, but we don't have the same purchasing power. So air travel is restricted to a small part of society. Most people travel by bus because it's much more affordable.
This last Christmas my GF had to fly back home for a funeral. We live in BC and she had to go to manitoba the cost was unreal at $1200 ONE WAY. with over $1600 in luggage insurance. And this was a flight from Vancouver to Winnipeg.
'had to' attend a funeral? Umm no such thing as a mandatory funeral.
Just booked my flights few days ago, paid $327 for Toronto Vancouver round trip with Air Canada, which isn't bad imo
3:24 lol. " In any country in Canada" 😅.
Canadians who live near the border also cross into the US to drive to other points in Canada - especially to avoid the two-lane Trans-Canada in Northwestern Ontario. If I were driving from Winnipeg to Montreal, I'd go through the US. Canadian roads aren't as good either :(
that goes the same for cellular plans, hydro electricity, car prices etc monopoly on everything
We don't have higher labour cost than US in Canada
2:57
Bro literally everyone in Canada hates Air Canada lol
Funny, since I’ve started flying domestically in Canada more over the past 4 years, I find flights quite reasonable, especially given how small our market is. I do fly out of or in to Toronto a lot, but it always seems reasonable, unless booking last minute in a busy time. Every time I book a flight to the states, I check from the nearest US airport (for example, detroit to phoenix instead of toronto to phoenix) and it’s rarely cheaper. I routinely fly from Toronto to Calgary for $130 CAD each way with Air Canada, a full service airline which frankly, I have found to be on par with any other airline I’ve flown domestically (including US and Europe). Flying in Canada should be more expensive than the US for a lot of flights, thats just the way the economy works.
There is flair now. About 150 from van to Montreal.
the only US airline I could see being allowed to operate Canadian domestic routes is United, and that's BECAUSE they have a partnership with Air Canada, so they would likely not actually compete.
There should be an investigation into the airport authorities! Calgary spent a positively scandalous amount, 1.3 billion, on airport improvements!! They are now financially "mugging" anyone and any airline foolish enough
to go anywhere near the airport property. I parked my vehicle in the parkade for 30 minutes and was puzzled at lack of other cars in the facility. I found out why it was empty when I tried to exit and they charged me $25.00!! I shudder to imagine what they charge retail tenants! It also explains why Air Canada and others have reduced their presence at YYC so much. The airport authorities REALLY need to be scrutinized.....
I heard that cellphone prices are very expensive in Canada too.
Canada should just join the USA. If that happened, overnight ticket prices would drop because of the increased competition.
Canada missed the boat in 1812.
Lynx airlines just announced that they’re calling it quits. Watch prices go up now that AC & WJ have one less competitor to worry about.
Same reason cell phone contracts are so expensive in Canada
Taxes. Somebody needs to pay for all that free healthcare.
Canada doesn’t subsidize air traffic control or airports nearly as much as other countries. Air travel is one a the very few places Canada is more “free market” than the USA.
I spent a major part of my working career flying all over Canada in my business. I never once enjoyed flying Air Canada, probably because they didn't have to try hard, being government subsidized for one and two because they were unionized, so pretty much unaccountable to customers.🎉 At the time Westjet really cared about its employees and this showed in the staff's attitude. So, I flew Westjet, but then they got greedy and things went South, as they say. With the general poor attitude at Canadian airports and all the fees they charge, I go out of my way to cross the border and fly from the US for any of my travels. Even with the exchange rate, flights are so much cheaper that it's worth the hassle to fly from the US.
Canada dosn't allow foreign carriers to pick up additional passengers flying in Canada. Say Asian carriers stop at Vancouver then fly to Toronto cannot fill up empty seats. Ethiopian Airways flies from Addis Ababa to Tokyo and then to Seoul can pick up passengers in between. There is absolutely no competition in Canada with high taxes and restrictions. The airports are inferior compared to Asia and very expensive.
Canada needs a serious overhaul on high-speed rail.
pretty sad when it’s cheaper to go to the US from toronto than to another province :(
Canada subsidizes air travel much less than other countries. Airport fees don’t make the government money but they pay for costs not requiring money from general tax revenue.
I’m not saying this is good or bad but just pointing out this is one of the few instances Canada is more “free market” than the United States.
4:30 tl;dr Canada is huge but population size is the same as CA. No demand, no competition = high prices 😅😅
Not being from North America I have been to Canada only once but I could tell that air Canada and travel in general must be embarrassing for them. I saw a flight to Paris from Montreal was more than one to Moncton
Canada has more taxes and less benefits 😢no competition 😢😢😢
I am sick of the government protecting Air Canada. Went to Newfoundland paid $850.00. Two months later went to Thailand for $950.00. That was 2016.
I gotta say inviting foreign companies to Canada seems like a bizarre answer to the problem...will Canadian companies be permitted to operate domestically in the United States if this happened I think not....also you never mentioned the enormous demand for deicing fluid....that stuff is like spraying buckets of money on the plane...