REGINA — As Air Canada flight attendants prepare to strike starting Saturday, the airline is winding down its flights, including those to and from Regina.
Regina Airport Authority (RAA) CEO James Bogusz said a recent check of the airline’s website showed their main aircraft will stop flying to and from Regina after today.
“It looks like the last purchasable flight is later today, and that’s going into the Toronto hub, which is a big, big deal for us.”
Air Canada normally operates three flights a day to Toronto from Regina, and one a day to Vancouver.
Bogusz said there are usually 550 to 600 passengers departing daily who use Air Canada’s mainline or Air Canada Rouge.
With flights being cancelled, Bogusz recommends that anyone using Air Canada now or in the future provide the airline with an email address and/or phone number.
“Air Canada, of course, will proactively notify customers who are impacted by a cancellation.”
Air Canada customers can also contact the airport through its website, or speak to agents at Regina’s airport seven days a week from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The silver lining to the cancelled flights is that Air Canada’s Jazz flights will still operate, according to Bogusz.
Those 76-seat flights operate daily to Vancouver and three times a week to Montreal.
In total, approximately 35 per cent of all Air Canada flights make up the airport’s total volume of seats.
Bogusz acknowledged the labour strike will have a financial impact, but would not provide details.
He also expressed concern about having limited seats for passengers travelling directly to destinations such as Toronto, since WestJet is now the only option.
“Having the capacity in major markets like Toronto Pearson and Vancouver Airport is critical, not only for the health of our local economy, [but] the ability to visit friends and family to come to the city. This is a big deal, and we’re really hoping this thing gets resolved quickly.”
It’s unclear how long it will take flights to return once a deal is reached between workers and the airline.
SaskToday will continue to monitor the situation.
