I examine Air Canada Free Beer & Wine in economy class, Porter & Air Transat's new partnership, and UltraBasic Westjet in this episode.
First, I explore Air Canada's latest customer-centric initiative: free beer, wine, and premium snacks for economy passengers on select flights until the end of the year. What does this mean for the passenger experience, and how does it position Air Canada in the competitive market?
Next, I look at Porter Airlines' rise and influence in reshaping Canadian aviation for economy-class travellers, from its innovative product offering to how Air Canada is now changing because of Porter.
The exciting partnership between Air Transat and Porter Airlines was announced on June 5. What synergies will this collaboration bring, and how might it impact routes, services, and overall competition within the Canadian airline sector?
WestJet's introduces the new "ultrabasic" fare. What does this budget-friendly option entail, and how does it fit WestJet's broader strategy? I discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks for travellers and question if I should remain in WestJet's loyalty program moving forward.
Enjoy my info dump on the latest trends and developments shaping Canada's aviation landscape.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garrettgaudet/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@garrettgaudet
Email: hello@strobecreative.com
Website: https://www.garrettgaudet.com/
First, I explore Air Canada's latest customer-centric initiative: free beer, wine, and premium snacks for economy passengers on select flights until the end of the year. What does this mean for the passenger experience, and how does it position Air Canada in the competitive market?
Next, I look at Porter Airlines' rise and influence in reshaping Canadian aviation for economy-class travellers, from its innovative product offering to how Air Canada is now changing because of Porter.
The exciting partnership between Air Transat and Porter Airlines was announced on June 5. What synergies will this collaboration bring, and how might it impact routes, services, and overall competition within the Canadian airline sector?
WestJet's introduces the new "ultrabasic" fare. What does this budget-friendly option entail, and how does it fit WestJet's broader strategy? I discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks for travellers and question if I should remain in WestJet's loyalty program moving forward.
Enjoy my info dump on the latest trends and developments shaping Canada's aviation landscape.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garrettgaudet/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@garrettgaudet
Email: hello@strobecreative.com
Website: https://www.garrettgaudet.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Yarakdet podcast. Iam Gyar Cadet and today I'll be talking
about the Canadian aviation industry and allthe new things that have been released and
announced this week. And there isn't, like I would say, groundbreaking news,
but there's a lot I want totalk about. And that's what this
podcast has become is a way whereI can info dump about the things that
(00:22):
I want to talk about. AndI have a lot to say and I
might as well just have a placefor it. I tweeted or posted on
x for the first time in almosteight months, and this is maybe ten
months, and I had enough tosay where I'm posting on a platform that
I haven't really touched in a longtime. So the podcast is obviously a
(00:44):
great space where I'm not limited tothe amount of characters. So I'm going
to be talking about the announcement fromAir Canada today, the announcement from west
Jet, the announcement from Porter andAir trans At. So there's lots of
news when it comes to the aviationindustry and what it means for consumers and
travelers. So to kick things off, Air Canada started by announcing today that
(01:11):
they'll be giving economy class passengers inupgrade their words, not mine, where
they will be providing free beer,wine and premium snacks for economy class.
Now, you might be thinking,if you're familiar with the Canadian aviation industry,
now, that sounds a lot familiarand similar to what Porter's offering is
(01:32):
in economy class, and you'd beright. I do think this is a
direct response to Porter and matching theireconomy experience. When it comes to the
in flight offering that both airlines offer, Porter with their E one ninety five
E two's has really encroached on AirCanada's market and foot traffic or air traffic
(01:56):
when it comes to their presence atPearson. Ever since they got their brand
new and Brayer aircraft a couple ofyears ago, they've been really chomping at
the heels of Air Canada and beingthis direct competitor. Where previously Porter had
the Toronto Billy Bushop Island Airport andthey just had that and that was it.
They had the D eight hundreds ordid the D eights, the Havelind
(02:19):
aircraft, the props and that's allthey really had. But now they're becoming
this really dynamic and unique boutique airlinethat is starting to turn some heads,
and I'm glad that they're getting someof the recognition that they deserve because I
believe a lot in what Porter isoffering to Canadian travelers and to the North
(02:43):
American airline industry as a whole,with all they are providing. So to
get back to Air Canad's announcement,they are free beer, free wine,
free snacks within Canada and the USuntil the end of the year, and
they haven't promised anything further than that, but they have kind of match what
the offering is for Porter, andby the announcement, that is kind of
(03:07):
what Porter serves as far as destinationsUS and Canada. So you could say
that is indirect competitive competition to Porter, and that's exactly what Air Canada is
doing. And I did think thatAir Canada needed some response to Porter.
Now, whether they can truly capturethat or even match the same brand sentiment
(03:29):
that Porter has currently, I wouldsay the Porter brand sentiment or how consumers
or the general public feels about PorterAirlines is fairly positive. Where they are
kind of this I want to callthem a new airline, but comparatively to
Air Canada and watch that they arenewer, but they definitely aren't new to
(03:51):
being an airline. They've been operatingfrom Toronto Billy Bishop for a long time
and that is kind of been wherethey played in as this regional airline.
But now they're launching flights to California, Florida, Vancouver, Halifax on the
East Coast. They're all over USand Canada with their brand new Embrayer aircraft,
(04:12):
and Air Canada is taking notice andI'm sure that they are subject to
a lot more passenger saying, hey, Porter's offering this, we want this
and we want this ability to enjoyeconomy, and a lot of Porters marketing
and advertising over the last six monthshas been about putting them in direct competitive
(04:34):
competition to Air Canada. I'fcen adson Facebook, on Instagram, and they've
been rolling out this marketing and advertisingwhere Porter's shown what they have in blue
and white as those are the brandidentity colors, and then white and red
as those are the Air Canada colors. So you could say you could have
this or you could have that,and they've been putting themselves in direct competition
(04:59):
when it comes to they're on boardor in flight product towards Air Canada,
and I think that's been a reallyeffective way Reporter to really communicate to the
flying public that hey, you couldfly Air Canada or you could try Porter
or fly Porter, and you couldhave things like no middle seat, front
or backboarding, free fast Wi Fifor everyone on board because they are an
(05:21):
all economy airline. And then youhave the compuntry wine, beer and premium
snacks, and word for word youdo see that it's the exact same terminology
that Air Canada use. Porter sayscomplentry, premium snacks, wine and beer,
and Air Canada has that same wordingin their press release today. So
(05:45):
it is in direct response. Andthe more and more that Porter flies out
of Pierson and starts to tackle someof the Air Canada airports that they've flown
out and flown out of in thepast, like Ottawa, Halifax, Toronto,
traill porters seeing this really significant growth, and they do have a lot
of E one, nine five Etwo's coming into their fleet and more to
(06:09):
be added in the next couple ofyears, and you will see bigger and
better growth from Porter Airlines as theflying public starts to take notice and they
start to really come into their maturityas this I would say, young international,
full service carrier airline kind of thing. So Porter also made another announcement
(06:31):
today coincidentally, So there's been LikeI said, there's a lot to talk
about, and that's what kind ofspurred or gave me a thought to say,
Hey, maybe you should do apodcast on this. So that is
what I'm doing. So the otherairline from Porter Airlines and air trans At,
and a joint statement said, startingtoday, you can book a standalone
segment with Porter or air Transit andbenefit from an extensive network of destinations.
(06:56):
In practical terms, this means youcan now fly your trans At offers an
extensive range of destinations across the Caribbeanand the South and then Europe. But
Porter has the Canada and US networknow thanks to their new Embraer aircraft.
And I really love this partnership.I left to comment on air trans AT's
(07:19):
Instagram posts announcing this, and Ithink it's just a really good fit.
I'm a fan of both airlines.I have flown air trans At transatlantically from
Toronto Amstagram and I'm sure I've phonedthem in the past, or maybe I
just go to Amstroam because I dofly there a lot, so I've used
(07:39):
air trans At before and I dothink they have similar consumers and they bring
different levels of personality and they aren'ttrying to be like Air Canada or west
Jet, and it's a really complimentaryroute network, where like I said,
air Transit has Europe and the SouthAmporter has North America being US in Canada.
(08:03):
Sorry Mexico, not just yet,but you can fly your transit down
to Mexico. Having the ability tohave this really close partnership and it's feeling
closer and closer like a joint venture. It's not quite there yet and they'll
probably remain independent, but it wouldn'tsurprise me if they became a company or
(08:24):
had a closer relationship formally in thefuture, just because of how well their
networks fit together when it comes totheir product offering. As far as destinations
go, they are airlines with fairlynew newer fleets, with air trans Ads
being the A three twenty one Hilarsand their new Airbus aircraft and then the
(08:46):
new Embraer aircraft. There's a lotto like from both the airlines, and
I'd love to see a joint loyaltyprogram or a credit card where you can
take advantage of that. Currently,I'm in west Jet dollars and I have
a WestJet MasterCard collecting the frequent Flyerpoints and WestJet dollars. But I'd love
(09:07):
to be able to switch to somethinglike Porter and air trans At and take
advantage of my daily spend going towardsan airline and route network like that,
just because I identify more with whatPorter offers, and I think their approach
to aviation and what they've done forelevating and influencing the Canadian in an industry
(09:31):
when it comes to airlines has beenreally beneficial. And I think this is
why competition matters so much, becausewe're seeing airlines like Porter make Air Canada
make changes by elevating the experience,and it's not a race to the bottom
to see the lowest fares or thelowest prices, and it's just about what
(09:52):
can we offer consumers better than theothers. And I hope that airlines continue
to do this and continue to workand be the airline that everyone wants to
fly, not we are making moneyas an airline and people have to fly
us. I hope that really changesbecause there's such a negative sentiment around Canadian
(10:13):
airlines. Statistically, there's some ofthe worst performing airlines in the world when
it comes to on time performance andall other kinds of delays. And it's
always been seen as this kind ofduopoly when it comes to the Canadian aviation
market. But now we're seeing inthe last couple of years there has been
some changes. Flair has a ultralow cost segment kind of covered. Now
(10:35):
that Swoop and Links are no longer, Flair has to hang on. I
still don't think they're probably financially stableairline, but it is making changes in
the aviation space when it comes toCanadian market by serving secondary airports, by
lowering ticket prices and just providing itan alternative and an option to those who
(11:00):
want to travel on a budget orthose who don't need the premium snacks,
free beer and wine. That's adifferent customer segment and a lot of times
when you are flying out a secondarymarket, you don't have those luxuries or
options or extras that come in economy. It would be great to have,
but as my home airport of YKAFor Regional Warloo International Airport, Flair is
(11:26):
the main airline that services the airportand west jets in there, but that's
more or less all you've got,and it'd be great to see Air Transit
launch some service to the South oreven even flights to Europe. That would
be amazing. Right now, PlayAirlines flies out of Hamilton, but it'd
be great if kitchen Waterloo had thatoption from ykif it's a great airport,
(11:48):
love flying out of there, andI try to whenever they can. Thankfully,
Air Cannas launch their landline bus Ithink it's called that their bus service
from Hamilton and Kitchener directly to TorontoPearson. So it's given me some options
because there's no additional costs when itcomes to flying now with Air Canada from
(12:09):
Kitchener because they do have these busconnections to then fly from Pierson. So
it's always been the drive to Pierson, but now that's covered under one ticket.
I had no extra cost, sothat's you know, you don't have
to pay for airport transport to Pearson, or you don't have to pay to
park at Pearson with the parking ratesand compared to Kitchener, it is cheaper
(12:33):
than Pierson. There's a lot ofthoughts of benefits. So it's really made
me, as a consumer that's notsuper close to Toronto, really consider where
I want to have my loyalty whenit comes to airlines and do I want
to experiment and have fun and enjoythings with Porter and air trans ad as
they are destinations I want to travelto and use more frequently and try out
(12:58):
different products. Do I want tostay with west Jet? I don't know,
but that is the perfect segue intotalking about west Jet. As yesterday,
west Jet made an announcement that theyhave replaced their basic fares with a
new branding called Ultra Basic. Andyou might be thinking Ultra Basic, what
(13:18):
is that? So Ultra Basic meansthat it's the now lowest airfare that west
Jet offers. So you have theultra basics Ekano and I think premium.
Where's the fun one? And withtheir statement, they've said, WestJet is
committed to providing our guests with fairoptions that provide affordability, choice and flexibility.
(13:41):
We want to empower our guests tochoose the products and services that they
value the most, so they canmatch their travel experience to both their preferences
and budgets. So that's a veryinteresting positioning on this. And West Jet
has always been a low cost airline, or they at least started as a
low cost airline, so low costsmeaning operational costs, but also translating into
(14:05):
lower affairs because of the margins.But over the years West Jet has become
more like Air Canada and it's alwaysfascinated me so much that an airline that
generally had a very positive brand sentimentamongst consumers, where you saw a lot
of the and if you're Canadian youwould have seen these in the last decade
(14:28):
or so where they were really enthusiasticpositive ads about Western employees being West jedtters
and being very excited about working forthe company and just really smiley and just
friendly West Hutters as this really positivething as they were this airline with some
(14:50):
personality. They did a lot ofChristmas and April Fools campaigns and they still
do. But the service hasn't reallystuck out. The operational or customer service
hasn't really stayed where it should havebeen, and that's obviously hard to change,
(15:11):
especially if there's been a lot ofoperational issues, because if a customer
isn't happy that their flight's been delayed, canceled, whatever the operational issue is,
their satisfaction, it will decrease andgo down, especially if it's not
weather related or something out of theairline's control. But for me, as
a Canadian flyer consumer and a WestJetloyalty member and very much part of the
(15:35):
WestJet ecosystem, I've noticed a lotof changes that is making me reconsider and
making it more difficult to stick withwest Jet as an airline to choose for
loyalty. Like I said, Ihave a westernt MasterCard, so I'm collecting
WestJet dollars as I spend and I'vehad it for probably at least five years,
(16:00):
redeemed five years, maybe longer.I've redemed twice, once being a
flight from Detroit Toronto Detroit Amstream viaDelta and that was back in twenty nineteen,
and it was a great experience.West that it has a lot of
affiliations with a lot of sky Teammembers like Delta KLM. They even have
(16:23):
partnerships with Quantas, who isn't asky Team but one World where you can
earn and redeem on those airlines atthe time. So since then, I've
tried to redeem to fly to Europeand take advantage of that Delta operated flight,
and that just hasn't been possible.So it's felt really limiting when it
(16:44):
comes to being an option to flytransatlantic because I fly to Amstream. I
love to travel to Netherlands go backhome to see family, and it just
has been less and less of adesirable option. Where I've used carriers like
air trans At or even KLM recently, where I've I haven't really had an
(17:07):
opportunity to use my WestJet dollars.And a friend of mine also has the
same card and has lots of WestJetdollars, but it's so difficult to just
kind of make sense to use those. The most recent time I use my
WESTJT dollars was to fly out toCalgary to go to Bamp and Bamp is
another destination that I love, andthat's somewhere I could go every year and
(17:27):
not kind of get bored of itbecause I do. That is a special
place for me. But that isthe only direct route from Why can't have
to Calgary for me as my homeairport as Kitchener, Like I mentioned,
so it is kind of difficult tofind something outside of that. And since
(17:48):
West Jet kind of reoriented the routemap to more Calgary, Western Canada,
which was always the case going backto the roots. But now there's more
options in Toronto and how Saint John'seven fly to Europe. But that would
also mean that I would have tostart in Toronto as my place of origin
and then go Toronto, Halifax oreven Toronto over to Europe. But yeah,
(18:14):
it just doesn't feel the same AirTRANSI Transatlantic transatlanticly on their Transatlantic flights
as seatback entertainment if and there arenarrow bodies, don't feel like West Jet.
Like it just different And seven thirtyseven is not like an A three
(18:36):
to twenty one. It just reallyisn't. And yeah, it just feels
different. As a customer and aconsumer, I'm just not as satisfied most
quest Jet anymore. To get backto what my initial point about their Ultra
Basic, Yeah, Ultra Basic isquite a name as well. That's when
it comes to branding they probably couldhave kept. So with the Ultra Basic
(19:03):
fare, you're also not permitted tohave any carry ons. You can only
have a personal item. So apersonal item might be something that can fit
under the seat in front of you, so it's not a roller bag,
it's not anything like that. There'salso no pre assigned seats, so you
will automatically be assigned seats at theback of the aircraft in parentheses, including
(19:27):
middle seats that you are not guaranteedto be together when traveling with others.
If you prefer to pre select orselect a seat, you have the option
to choose your seat for an additionalfee, and that's not quite different.
But the putting that it could bethe middle seat, or putting the risk
(19:48):
that you might not even be ableto sit together on a single booking is
a very odd way to put it. And it really is kind of this
fair structure where they don't want youto choose this, and obviously, as
a business, you want the customerto choose one of the high revenue generating
tickets and Ultra Basic is just thereto have it and they won't be the
(20:12):
most expensive. But it does seemthat it's harder and it's making flying more
expensive for getting less and start.Contrast to the air Canda announcement, where
economy passengers are at least getting freebeer, wine and snacks with their flights,
(20:33):
it just feels like a different approachwhere one airline is improving the economy
experience and one is trying to havethe lowest fares, which could be the
case, but it just feels likereally tearing apart what the economy experience is.
And I think when it comes tovalue and the value offering compared to
(21:00):
Air Canada and Porter, it seemsharder to choose west Jet out of preference
other than their routes, and Ithink that's very difficult and it's difficult to
come to terms with, especially sinceI have been a west Jet fan of
in the past and I still enjoywest Jet, but it's not something where
(21:22):
I choose west Jet over another choosingflights In the last year or two and
looking at redemption for the west atdollars that I do have, it's become
more expensive to redeem, the redemptionrate hasn't been as good, and it's
it's yeah, I don't really havemany words to say, but it's just
(21:44):
very unremarkable and it's not something thatsticks out. Whether that's the product service,
there's not much there. And asa kid, as a teen,
I used to love west Jet thatthey had satellite TV and a good IF
system, whether that was flying downin Mexico or starting a holiday by watching
(22:06):
Sports Center or something on the plane, and there's things to look forward to,
but there doesn't seem to be thatincentive or that personal connection anymore that
I used to have with the airline. It's kind of it is disappointed and
then the last one is the lasttwo or there's no West rewards earn and
there's no eligibility for changes. Andthis is not to say that this is
(22:32):
a brand new fair structure to aviationwhatsoever. A lot of airlines do this
and do have these fair types whereyou can't change your ticket and you're not
going to earn we're going to flyawards or anything like that. It just
doesn't feel right. What I meanby that is if I've chosen to fly
with the airline, and at theend of every flight, every airline will
(22:56):
say we appreciate you of choosing Let'ssays, or choosing Air Canada, or
you've flown with us day, thankyou so much. I think at the
very least, earning some sort ofloyalty with that would be nice. It
doesn't even have to be significant,but to say that if you are on
a budget and affordability. Obviously Idon't have to get into that, but
(23:19):
it's a hot political issue. It'sjust affecting everyone as Canadians. To not
be able to have the assurance thatyou could sit with someone you're traveling with,
whether that's a loved one or sprousepartner, and to not be able
(23:40):
to have some sort of earn onfrequent flyer feels really tough. And obviously,
if you want that level of serviceor you want that you can pay
more for it by think making airtravel accessible or at least having some sort
of of thank you or appreciation toyour traveler consumer would be nice. I
(24:06):
don't it's not a lot to askfor, and again we are at the
very bottom, and it is probablytheir way of maintaining lower costs and higher
ancillary fees, as that's what mostairlines are trying to do. But I
just like I said this to alot of friends over the years that WestJet's
(24:26):
kind of had this identity crisis wherethey've been this low cost. They got
Dreamliners and they tried to be thisfull service airline to compete with Air Canada.
Haven't been able to abandon East Coastoperations, not entirely but significantly reduced
their service to a lot of differentairports and went to West Coast Operations,
(24:48):
launched some Asia routes, new managementand new CEOs and leadership have reintroduced transatlantic
service from Toronto and reintroduced Halifax andSaint John's transatlantic service, and it's just
kind of been the focus has beenlost. I think. I do think
(25:12):
the reintroduction of East Coast Transatlantic servicesis really welcomed, but it'd be nice
to see them refocus on the customerand the customer experience when it comes to
flying west Jet again. I wantto get back to a place where I
want to choose WestJet and I wouldpay a premium or choose them over another
(25:34):
airline based on what their value propositionis. But currently I can't do that,
and I don't want to do that. Like I said, I think
when it comes to brands, youhave to make sure that a customer feels
valued. And like I said,I have a Western MasterCard. I like
(25:56):
to fly WestJet because of the convenienceof flying from my home airport Town Airport,
but other than that, that's it. And I can also fly Flare
and if I can't fly competitively onprice, then there's not much more there
and even to redeem sometimes for lookingfrom ykfter yy see, Flair is still
(26:21):
cheaper when I'm looking to redeem WestJetdollars. So it's really like what are
we working with here? So it'svery very difficult. I feel I feel
upset about that. I am upsetabout that that west Jet is like that.
Now, how do I see westJet continuing to evolve? I like
(26:42):
I said, I really hope thatthey get back to that west jetter marketing
promotion because a lot of Cadiens feellike it's just another Air Canada, and
I feel like Air Canada is eventaking a step ahead when it comes to
passenger experience by saying this is whatwe will provide on board. And yeah,
(27:02):
I think Canadian aviation will need tocontinue to evolve and change and be
more about the on board or andflight product, especially when it comes to
these full source airlines like Air Canada, Border Air trans at Western they aren't
Flair. Flair will be Flair foras long as they can be. But
yeah, it's an interesting market thatwe have in Canada and it continues to
(27:29):
be more expensive than other countries.But again, we don't have the same
level of competition as you say theUS or even within Europe, so we
will see how everything evolves. I'mvery excited about the Air Canada and announcements
when it comes through offerings in theireconomy cabin. I hope they keep this
(27:52):
around. I hope that they seeand hear feedback from customers that they appreciate
this. This is appreciated, andI think when you are choosing airlines,
you should want to win the customersmoney or win the customer's business based on
(28:14):
what you provide as an airline.And I think consumers, I know consumers
will pay a little premium or alittle bit more to receive more, marginally
more depending on the roads and competition, order and air trans that I am
so excited for this. This isthe most exciting thing for me, at
least when it comes to what's happeningin Canadian aviation, when it comes to
(28:37):
innovative companies, when it comes tothe synergy between these two companies, where
we have a North American airline,we have a vacation leisure oriented airline,
and what they can do together isreally impressive and really exciting, and two
airlines that really have a lot toprove when it comes to finding their market
share a Porter with WestJet and Aircami, and then air trans At again with
(29:03):
Western Air Canada and now that airtrans that really doesn't have to focus on
North America with a partnership like this. So, like I said, I
really hope they have this loyalty programthat's rolled out and can benefit from a
lot of the destinations that they offerwhen it comes to North America, all
inclusive vacations down with trans At holidaysand vacations using air trans At. Yeah,
(29:27):
I'm really excited about that. Again, I'd love to try Porter sometime
soon. It's been on my Aviationaf geek bucket list of things to try,
so that's something I'd love to do. But I'd like to try it
on there in Brayer Eat one Etwo's probably from Pearson and we'll see where
(29:49):
I can go with that. Soif I'm going out to BAMF or Calgary,
I highly consider Porter if it worksor if it's less expensive than Kitchener.
We'll see Porters usually not least expensive, but they're not trying to be
the least expensive. The different consumeris a different market and again that's why
Canada has kind of met porter withkind of some of the offerings that they
(30:12):
provide customers and economy class. Sothose are my thoughts about the Canadian aviation
industry and what's going on. Andlike I said, I had a lot
to talk about. Really excited aboutthis and I just had to tell someone.
So if you listen to the end, thank you. I hope to
(30:32):
do more podcasting like this. Lifehas been busy in a lot of different
ways, and I've been busy producingcontent, producing podcasts, videos, short
form content for a lot of differentbrands and businesses with me freelancing and with
my business, but I've kind ofleft my creative projects to the back or
(30:56):
just to as not a priority.But I enjoyed creating. So yeah,
hopefully this is kind of a catalystfor some more activity or just me sharing
what I think because I have alot to talk about. So I hope
to use this more like a platformwhere I can just talk at length.
Whether this is like your friend onFaceTime or just someone catching up that's also
(31:19):
fine. I was inspired by KennedyMcMahon's podcast and She's She was the lead
and titular character from Nancy Drew,and she has a podcast where it's very
casual and it's just hard talking aboutwhatever she wants to. So I like
that format and I think I'll domore of that and not put so much
(31:41):
pressure of producing something, yeah,because that can be a lot of pressure,
especially creatively. Okay, I knowI'm terrible without DROs, but thanks
for listening. For more frequent updates, posts, and content, head over
to Instagram at Yarakadet. I alsohave atube channel at carcadet. If you
(32:01):
want to work with me, headover to Garrigdett dot com. If you
want to do any production work,or you want to hear more of my
thoughts or work with me on that, you can connect with me on there,
Follow or subscribe to this podcast onthe podcast platform of your choice,
and I will see or you willhear me whenever I posted the episode
Welcome to the Yarakdet podcast. Iam Gyar Cadet and today I'll be talking
about the Canadian aviation industry and allthe new things that have been released and
announced this week. And there isn't, like I would say, groundbreaking news,
but there's a lot I want totalk about. And that's what this
podcast has become is a way whereI can info dump about the things that
(00:22):
I want to talk about. AndI have a lot to say and I
might as well just have a placefor it. I tweeted or posted on
x for the first time in almosteight months, and this is maybe ten
months, and I had enough tosay where I'm posting on a platform that
I haven't really touched in a longtime. So the podcast is obviously a
(00:44):
great space where I'm not limited tothe amount of characters. So I'm going
to be talking about the announcement fromAir Canada today, the announcement from west
Jet, the announcement from Porter andAir trans At. So there's lots of
news when it comes to the aviationindustry and what it means for consumers and
travelers. So to kick things off, Air Canada started by announcing today that
(01:11):
they'll be giving economy class passengers inupgrade their words, not mine, where
they will be providing free beer,wine and premium snacks for economy class.
Now, you might be thinking,if you're familiar with the Canadian aviation industry,
now, that sounds a lot familiarand similar to what Porter's offering is
(01:32):
in economy class, and you'd beright. I do think this is a
direct response to Porter and matching theireconomy experience. When it comes to the
in flight offering that both airlines offer, Porter with their E one ninety five
E two's has really encroached on AirCanada's market and foot traffic or air traffic
(01:56):
when it comes to their presence atPearson. Ever since they got their brand
new and Brayer aircraft a couple ofyears ago, they've been really chomping at
the heels of Air Canada and beingthis direct competitor. Where previously Porter had
the Toronto Billy Bushop Island Airport andthey just had that and that was it.
They had the D eight hundreds ordid the D eights, the Havelind
(02:19):
aircraft, the props and that's allthey really had. But now they're becoming
this really dynamic and unique boutique airlinethat is starting to turn some heads,
and I'm glad that they're getting someof the recognition that they deserve because I
believe a lot in what Porter isoffering to Canadian travelers and to the North
(02:43):
American airline industry as a whole,with all they are providing. So to
get back to Air Canad's announcement,they are free beer, free wine,
free snacks within Canada and the USuntil the end of the year, and
they haven't promised anything further than that, but they have kind of match what
the offering is for Porter, andby the announcement, that is kind of
(03:07):
what Porter serves as far as destinationsUS and Canada. So you could say
that is indirect competitive competition to Porter, and that's exactly what Air Canada is
doing. And I did think thatAir Canada needed some response to Porter.
Now, whether they can truly capturethat or even match the same brand sentiment
(03:29):
that Porter has currently, I wouldsay the Porter brand sentiment or how consumers
or the general public feels about PorterAirlines is fairly positive. Where they are
kind of this I want to callthem a new airline, but comparatively to
Air Canada and watch that they arenewer, but they definitely aren't new to
(03:51):
being an airline. They've been operatingfrom Toronto Billy Bishop for a long time
and that is kind of been wherethey played in as this regional airline.
But now they're launching flights to California, Florida, Vancouver, Halifax on the
East Coast. They're all over USand Canada with their brand new Embrayer aircraft,
(04:12):
and Air Canada is taking notice andI'm sure that they are subject to
a lot more passenger saying, hey, Porter's offering this, we want this
and we want this ability to enjoyeconomy, and a lot of Porters marketing
and advertising over the last six monthshas been about putting them in direct competitive
(04:34):
competition to Air Canada. I'fcen adson Facebook, on Instagram, and they've
been rolling out this marketing and advertisingwhere Porter's shown what they have in blue
and white as those are the brandidentity colors, and then white and red
as those are the Air Canada colors. So you could say you could have
this or you could have that,and they've been putting themselves in direct competition
(04:59):
when it comes to they're on boardor in flight product towards Air Canada,
and I think that's been a reallyeffective way Reporter to really communicate to the
flying public that hey, you couldfly Air Canada or you could try Porter
or fly Porter, and you couldhave things like no middle seat, front
or backboarding, free fast Wi Fifor everyone on board because they are an
(05:21):
all economy airline. And then youhave the compuntry wine, beer and premium
snacks, and word for word youdo see that it's the exact same terminology
that Air Canada use. Porter sayscomplentry, premium snacks, wine and beer,
and Air Canada has that same wordingin their press release today. So
(05:45):
it is in direct response. Andthe more and more that Porter flies out
of Pierson and starts to tackle someof the Air Canada airports that they've flown
out and flown out of in thepast, like Ottawa, Halifax, Toronto,
traill porters seeing this really significant growth, and they do have a lot
of E one, nine five Etwo's coming into their fleet and more to
(06:09):
be added in the next couple ofyears, and you will see bigger and
better growth from Porter Airlines as theflying public starts to take notice and they
start to really come into their maturityas this I would say, young international,
full service carrier airline kind of thing. So Porter also made another announcement
(06:31):
today coincidentally, So there's been LikeI said, there's a lot to talk
about, and that's what kind ofspurred or gave me a thought to say,
Hey, maybe you should do apodcast on this. So that is
what I'm doing. So the otherairline from Porter Airlines and air trans At,
and a joint statement said, startingtoday, you can book a standalone
segment with Porter or air Transit andbenefit from an extensive network of destinations.
(06:56):
In practical terms, this means youcan now fly your trans At offers an
extensive range of destinations across the Caribbeanand the South and then Europe. But
Porter has the Canada and US networknow thanks to their new Embraer aircraft.
And I really love this partnership.I left to comment on air trans AT's
(07:19):
Instagram posts announcing this, and Ithink it's just a really good fit.
I'm a fan of both airlines.I have flown air trans At transatlantically from
Toronto Amstagram and I'm sure I've phonedthem in the past, or maybe I
just go to Amstroam because I dofly there a lot, so I've used
(07:39):
air trans At before and I dothink they have similar consumers and they bring
different levels of personality and they aren'ttrying to be like Air Canada or west
Jet, and it's a really complimentaryroute network, where like I said,
air Transit has Europe and the SouthAmporter has North America being US in Canada.
(08:03):
Sorry Mexico, not just yet,but you can fly your transit down
to Mexico. Having the ability tohave this really close partnership and it's feeling
closer and closer like a joint venture. It's not quite there yet and they'll
probably remain independent, but it wouldn'tsurprise me if they became a company or
(08:24):
had a closer relationship formally in thefuture, just because of how well their
networks fit together when it comes totheir product offering. As far as destinations
go, they are airlines with fairlynew newer fleets, with air trans Ads
being the A three twenty one Hilarsand their new Airbus aircraft and then the
(08:46):
new Embraer aircraft. There's a lotto like from both the airlines, and
I'd love to see a joint loyaltyprogram or a credit card where you can
take advantage of that. Currently,I'm in west Jet dollars and I have
a WestJet MasterCard collecting the frequent Flyerpoints and WestJet dollars. But I'd love
(09:07):
to be able to switch to somethinglike Porter and air trans At and take
advantage of my daily spend going towardsan airline and route network like that,
just because I identify more with whatPorter offers, and I think their approach
to aviation and what they've done forelevating and influencing the Canadian in an industry
(09:31):
when it comes to airlines has beenreally beneficial. And I think this is
why competition matters so much, becausewe're seeing airlines like Porter make Air Canada
make changes by elevating the experience,and it's not a race to the bottom
to see the lowest fares or thelowest prices, and it's just about what
(09:52):
can we offer consumers better than theothers. And I hope that airlines continue
to do this and continue to workand be the airline that everyone wants to
fly, not we are making moneyas an airline and people have to fly
us. I hope that really changesbecause there's such a negative sentiment around Canadian
(10:13):
airlines. Statistically, there's some ofthe worst performing airlines in the world when
it comes to on time performance andall other kinds of delays. And it's
always been seen as this kind ofduopoly when it comes to the Canadian aviation
market. But now we're seeing inthe last couple of years there has been
some changes. Flair has a ultralow cost segment kind of covered. Now
(10:35):
that Swoop and Links are no longer, Flair has to hang on. I
still don't think they're probably financially stableairline, but it is making changes in
the aviation space when it comes toCanadian market by serving secondary airports, by
lowering ticket prices and just providing itan alternative and an option to those who
(11:00):
want to travel on a budget orthose who don't need the premium snacks,
free beer and wine. That's adifferent customer segment and a lot of times
when you are flying out a secondarymarket, you don't have those luxuries or
options or extras that come in economy. It would be great to have,
but as my home airport of YKAFor Regional Warloo International Airport, Flair is
(11:26):
the main airline that services the airportand west jets in there, but that's
more or less all you've got,and it'd be great to see Air Transit
launch some service to the South oreven even flights to Europe. That would
be amazing. Right now, PlayAirlines flies out of Hamilton, but it'd
be great if kitchen Waterloo had thatoption from ykif it's a great airport,
(11:48):
love flying out of there, andI try to whenever they can. Thankfully,
Air Cannas launch their landline bus Ithink it's called that their bus service
from Hamilton and Kitchener directly to TorontoPearson. So it's given me some options
because there's no additional costs when itcomes to flying now with Air Canada from
(12:09):
Kitchener because they do have these busconnections to then fly from Pierson. So
it's always been the drive to Pierson, but now that's covered under one ticket.
I had no extra cost, sothat's you know, you don't have
to pay for airport transport to Pearson, or you don't have to pay to
park at Pearson with the parking ratesand compared to Kitchener, it is cheaper
(12:33):
than Pierson. There's a lot ofthoughts of benefits. So it's really made
me, as a consumer that's notsuper close to Toronto, really consider where
I want to have my loyalty whenit comes to airlines and do I want
to experiment and have fun and enjoythings with Porter and air trans ad as
they are destinations I want to travelto and use more frequently and try out
(12:58):
different products. Do I want tostay with west Jet? I don't know,
but that is the perfect segue intotalking about west Jet. As yesterday,
west Jet made an announcement that theyhave replaced their basic fares with a
new branding called Ultra Basic. Andyou might be thinking Ultra Basic, what
(13:18):
is that? So Ultra Basic meansthat it's the now lowest airfare that west
Jet offers. So you have theultra basics Ekano and I think premium.
Where's the fun one? And withtheir statement, they've said, WestJet is
committed to providing our guests with fairoptions that provide affordability, choice and flexibility.
(13:41):
We want to empower our guests tochoose the products and services that they
value the most, so they canmatch their travel experience to both their preferences
and budgets. So that's a veryinteresting positioning on this. And West Jet
has always been a low cost airline, or they at least started as a
low cost airline, so low costsmeaning operational costs, but also translating into
(14:05):
lower affairs because of the margins.But over the years West Jet has become
more like Air Canada and it's alwaysfascinated me so much that an airline that
generally had a very positive brand sentimentamongst consumers, where you saw a lot
of the and if you're Canadian youwould have seen these in the last decade
(14:28):
or so where they were really enthusiasticpositive ads about Western employees being West jedtters
and being very excited about working forthe company and just really smiley and just
friendly West Hutters as this really positivething as they were this airline with some
(14:50):
personality. They did a lot ofChristmas and April Fools campaigns and they still
do. But the service hasn't reallystuck out. The operational or customer service
hasn't really stayed where it should havebeen, and that's obviously hard to change,
(15:11):
especially if there's been a lot ofoperational issues, because if a customer
isn't happy that their flight's been delayed, canceled, whatever the operational issue is,
their satisfaction, it will decrease andgo down, especially if it's not
weather related or something out of theairline's control. But for me, as
a Canadian flyer consumer and a WestJetloyalty member and very much part of the
(15:35):
WestJet ecosystem, I've noticed a lotof changes that is making me reconsider and
making it more difficult to stick withwest Jet as an airline to choose for
loyalty. Like I said, Ihave a westernt MasterCard, so I'm collecting
WestJet dollars as I spend and I'vehad it for probably at least five years,
(16:00):
redeemed five years, maybe longer.I've redemed twice, once being a
flight from Detroit Toronto Detroit Amstream viaDelta and that was back in twenty nineteen,
and it was a great experience.West that it has a lot of
affiliations with a lot of sky Teammembers like Delta KLM. They even have
(16:23):
partnerships with Quantas, who isn't asky Team but one World where you can
earn and redeem on those airlines atthe time. So since then, I've
tried to redeem to fly to Europeand take advantage of that Delta operated flight,
and that just hasn't been possible.So it's felt really limiting when it
(16:44):
comes to being an option to flytransatlantic because I fly to Amstream. I
love to travel to Netherlands go backhome to see family, and it just
has been less and less of adesirable option. Where I've used carriers like
air trans At or even KLM recently, where I've I haven't really had an
(17:07):
opportunity to use my WestJet dollars.And a friend of mine also has the
same card and has lots of WestJetdollars, but it's so difficult to just
kind of make sense to use those. The most recent time I use my
WESTJT dollars was to fly out toCalgary to go to Bamp and Bamp is
another destination that I love, andthat's somewhere I could go every year and
(17:27):
not kind of get bored of itbecause I do. That is a special
place for me. But that isthe only direct route from Why can't have
to Calgary for me as my homeairport as Kitchener, Like I mentioned,
so it is kind of difficult tofind something outside of that. And since
(17:48):
West Jet kind of reoriented the routemap to more Calgary, Western Canada,
which was always the case going backto the roots. But now there's more
options in Toronto and how Saint John'seven fly to Europe. But that would
also mean that I would have tostart in Toronto as my place of origin
and then go Toronto, Halifax oreven Toronto over to Europe. But yeah,
(18:14):
it just doesn't feel the same AirTRANSI Transatlantic transatlanticly on their Transatlantic flights
as seatback entertainment if and there arenarrow bodies, don't feel like West Jet.
Like it just different And seven thirtyseven is not like an A three
(18:36):
to twenty one. It just reallyisn't. And yeah, it just feels
different. As a customer and aconsumer, I'm just not as satisfied most
quest Jet anymore. To get backto what my initial point about their Ultra
Basic, Yeah, Ultra Basic isquite a name as well. That's when
it comes to branding they probably couldhave kept. So with the Ultra Basic
(19:03):
fare, you're also not permitted tohave any carry ons. You can only
have a personal item. So apersonal item might be something that can fit
under the seat in front of you, so it's not a roller bag,
it's not anything like that. There'salso no pre assigned seats, so you
will automatically be assigned seats at theback of the aircraft in parentheses, including
(19:27):
middle seats that you are not guaranteedto be together when traveling with others.
If you prefer to pre select orselect a seat, you have the option
to choose your seat for an additionalfee, and that's not quite different.
But the putting that it could bethe middle seat, or putting the risk
(19:48):
that you might not even be ableto sit together on a single booking is
a very odd way to put it. And it really is kind of this
fair structure where they don't want youto choose this, and obviously, as
a business, you want the customerto choose one of the high revenue generating
tickets and Ultra Basic is just thereto have it and they won't be the
(20:12):
most expensive. But it does seemthat it's harder and it's making flying more
expensive for getting less and start.Contrast to the air Canda announcement, where
economy passengers are at least getting freebeer, wine and snacks with their flights,
(20:33):
it just feels like a different approachwhere one airline is improving the economy
experience and one is trying to havethe lowest fares, which could be the
case, but it just feels likereally tearing apart what the economy experience is.
And I think when it comes tovalue and the value offering compared to
(21:00):
Air Canada and Porter, it seemsharder to choose west Jet out of preference
other than their routes, and Ithink that's very difficult and it's difficult to
come to terms with, especially sinceI have been a west Jet fan of
in the past and I still enjoywest Jet, but it's not something where
(21:22):
I choose west Jet over another choosingflights In the last year or two and
looking at redemption for the west atdollars that I do have, it's become
more expensive to redeem, the redemptionrate hasn't been as good, and it's
it's yeah, I don't really havemany words to say, but it's just
(21:44):
very unremarkable and it's not something thatsticks out. Whether that's the product service,
there's not much there. And asa kid, as a teen,
I used to love west Jet thatthey had satellite TV and a good IF
system, whether that was flying downin Mexico or starting a holiday by watching
(22:06):
Sports Center or something on the plane, and there's things to look forward to,
but there doesn't seem to be thatincentive or that personal connection anymore that
I used to have with the airline. It's kind of it is disappointed and
then the last one is the lasttwo or there's no West rewards earn and
there's no eligibility for changes. Andthis is not to say that this is
(22:32):
a brand new fair structure to aviationwhatsoever. A lot of airlines do this
and do have these fair types whereyou can't change your ticket and you're not
going to earn we're going to flyawards or anything like that. It just
doesn't feel right. What I meanby that is if I've chosen to fly
with the airline, and at theend of every flight, every airline will
(22:56):
say we appreciate you of choosing Let'ssays, or choosing Air Canada, or
you've flown with us day, thankyou so much. I think at the
very least, earning some sort ofloyalty with that would be nice. It
doesn't even have to be significant,but to say that if you are on
a budget and affordability. Obviously Idon't have to get into that, but
(23:19):
it's a hot political issue. It'sjust affecting everyone as Canadians. To not
be able to have the assurance thatyou could sit with someone you're traveling with,
whether that's a loved one or sprousepartner, and to not be able
(23:40):
to have some sort of earn onfrequent flyer feels really tough. And obviously,
if you want that level of serviceor you want that you can pay
more for it by think making airtravel accessible or at least having some sort
of of thank you or appreciation toyour traveler consumer would be nice. I
(24:06):
don't it's not a lot to askfor, and again we are at the
very bottom, and it is probablytheir way of maintaining lower costs and higher
ancillary fees, as that's what mostairlines are trying to do. But I
just like I said this to alot of friends over the years that WestJet's
(24:26):
kind of had this identity crisis wherethey've been this low cost. They got
Dreamliners and they tried to be thisfull service airline to compete with Air Canada.
Haven't been able to abandon East Coastoperations, not entirely but significantly reduced
their service to a lot of differentairports and went to West Coast Operations,
(24:48):
launched some Asia routes, new managementand new CEOs and leadership have reintroduced transatlantic
service from Toronto and reintroduced Halifax andSaint John's transatlantic service, and it's just
kind of been the focus has beenlost. I think. I do think
(25:12):
the reintroduction of East Coast Transatlantic servicesis really welcomed, but it'd be nice
to see them refocus on the customerand the customer experience when it comes to
flying west Jet again. I wantto get back to a place where I
want to choose WestJet and I wouldpay a premium or choose them over another
(25:34):
airline based on what their value propositionis. But currently I can't do that,
and I don't want to do that. Like I said, I think
when it comes to brands, youhave to make sure that a customer feels
valued. And like I said,I have a Western MasterCard. I like
(25:56):
to fly WestJet because of the convenienceof flying from my home airport Town Airport,
but other than that, that's it. And I can also fly Flare
and if I can't fly competitively onprice, then there's not much more there
and even to redeem sometimes for lookingfrom ykfter yy see, Flair is still
(26:21):
cheaper when I'm looking to redeem WestJetdollars. So it's really like what are
we working with here? So it'svery very difficult. I feel I feel
upset about that. I am upsetabout that that west Jet is like that.
Now, how do I see westJet continuing to evolve? I like
(26:42):
I said, I really hope thatthey get back to that west jetter marketing
promotion because a lot of Cadiens feellike it's just another Air Canada, and
I feel like Air Canada is eventaking a step ahead when it comes to
passenger experience by saying this is whatwe will provide on board. And yeah,
(27:02):
I think Canadian aviation will need tocontinue to evolve and change and be
more about the on board or andflight product, especially when it comes to
these full source airlines like Air Canada, Border Air trans at Western they aren't
Flair. Flair will be Flair foras long as they can be. But
yeah, it's an interesting market thatwe have in Canada and it continues to
(27:29):
be more expensive than other countries.But again, we don't have the same
level of competition as you say theUS or even within Europe, so we
will see how everything evolves. I'mvery excited about the Air Canada and announcements
when it comes through offerings in theireconomy cabin. I hope they keep this
(27:52):
around. I hope that they seeand hear feedback from customers that they appreciate
this. This is appreciated, andI think when you are choosing airlines,
you should want to win the customersmoney or win the customer's business based on
(28:14):
what you provide as an airline.And I think consumers, I know consumers
will pay a little premium or alittle bit more to receive more, marginally
more depending on the roads and competition, order and air trans that I am
so excited for this. This isthe most exciting thing for me, at
least when it comes to what's happeningin Canadian aviation, when it comes to
(28:37):
innovative companies, when it comes tothe synergy between these two companies, where
we have a North American airline,we have a vacation leisure oriented airline,
and what they can do together isreally impressive and really exciting, and two
airlines that really have a lot toprove when it comes to finding their market
share a Porter with WestJet and Aircami, and then air trans At again with
(29:03):
Western Air Canada and now that airtrans that really doesn't have to focus on
North America with a partnership like this. So, like I said, I
really hope they have this loyalty programthat's rolled out and can benefit from a
lot of the destinations that they offerwhen it comes to North America, all
inclusive vacations down with trans At holidaysand vacations using air trans At. Yeah,
(29:27):
I'm really excited about that. Again, I'd love to try Porter sometime
soon. It's been on my Aviationaf geek bucket list of things to try,
so that's something I'd love to do. But I'd like to try it
on there in Brayer Eat one Etwo's probably from Pearson and we'll see where
(29:49):
I can go with that. Soif I'm going out to BAMF or Calgary,
I highly consider Porter if it worksor if it's less expensive than Kitchener.
We'll see Porters usually not least expensive, but they're not trying to be
the least expensive. The different consumeris a different market and again that's why
Canada has kind of met porter withkind of some of the offerings that they
(30:12):
provide customers and economy class. Sothose are my thoughts about the Canadian aviation
industry and what's going on. Andlike I said, I had a lot
to talk about. Really excited aboutthis and I just had to tell someone.
So if you listen to the end, thank you. I hope to
(30:32):
do more podcasting like this. Lifehas been busy in a lot of different
ways, and I've been busy producingcontent, producing podcasts, videos, short
form content for a lot of differentbrands and businesses with me freelancing and with
my business, but I've kind ofleft my creative projects to the back or
(30:56):
just to as not a priority.But I enjoyed creating. So yeah,
hopefully this is kind of a catalystfor some more activity or just me sharing
what I think because I have alot to talk about. So I hope
to use this more like a platformwhere I can just talk at length.
Whether this is like your friend onFaceTime or just someone catching up that's also
(31:19):
fine. I was inspired by KennedyMcMahon's podcast and She's She was the lead
and titular character from Nancy Drew,and she has a podcast where it's very
casual and it's just hard talking aboutwhatever she wants to. So I like
that format and I think I'll domore of that and not put so much
(31:41):
pressure of producing something, yeah,because that can be a lot of pressure,
especially creatively. Okay, I knowI'm terrible without DROs, but thanks
for listening. For more frequent updates, posts, and content, head over
to Instagram at Yarakadet. I alsohave atube channel at carcadet. If you
(32:01):
want to work with me, headover to Garrigdett dot com. If you
want to do any production work,or you want to hear more of my
thoughts or work with me on that, you can connect with me on there,
Follow or subscribe to this podcast onthe podcast platform of your choice,
and I will see or you willhear me whenever I posted the episode
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