Those of us who are sports fans often relish watching games where the more resourceful, cohesive and nimble team beats its more powerful rival, and size is no guarantee of success. It’s a plotline the airline industry has been following in North America, with Air Canada competing not only against domestic carriers but also the biggest carriers in the world’s largest aviation market, the United States.
For the third consecutive year, we were named Best Airline in North America at the Skytrax World Airline Awards during the International Paris Air Show. It is the eighth time in 10 years Air Canada has won this prestigious award, which was accompanied by an award for Best Business Class Lounge Dining. The Skytrax Awards are based on responses from approximately 20 million global travellers, meaning we have been judged the best by those who know airlines extremely well.
We thank our customers for their loyalty and for recognizing our efforts to deliver service excellence. These include our investment of more than $12 billion in new aircraft, our commitment to offer industry leading amenities and the dedication of our 33,000 employees – the true winners of these awards – to providing safe, comfortable travel.
Such awards, and our ranking as Skytrax’s only North American 4-Star international network carrier, also incentivize us to do better. So we continue to enhance our products, including recent upgrades to our in-flight entertainment systems, the introduction of onboard Wi-fi, new and refurbished lounges, streamlined airport processes, our narrow-body fleet renewal, a new reservation system to vastly improve bookings management and, next year, a new loyalty program that we aim to make the industry’s best.
As Canada’s flag carrier, we are proud that Air Canada has established itself as the leading North American carrier and a Canadian global champion, with a significant network extending from our Canadian hubs. We have more than doubled the international cities we serve in recent years and we are one of only a handful of airlines flying to all six inhabited continents. With our success in North America, we have every confidence in taking on the best in the world.
Calin’s column appears every month in enRoute Magazine, Air Canada’s award-winning in-flight magazine found onboard all Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express flights. This edition is from the July 2019 issue.
