Every day that the labor conflict will last at Air Canada, 25,000 travelers will be blocked abroad and families will have to pay thousands of dollars for a new return flight.
• Read also: Tickets at $ 420 now sold $ 2475 at Transat
• Read also: Explosion of reservations at Via Rail
“About 25,000 people a day come back to Canada,” said Christophe Hennebelle, Air Canada spokesperson, joined at the end of the day on Thursday.
On Saturday, when the complete judgment will come into force, it is the same number of travelers who will find themselves blocked abroad. Same on Sunday, then every day of the conflict.
The carrier has already started on Thursday to nail long-haul flights on the ground from Montreal before the total stop scheduled for Saturday at 1 a.m.
“We canceled a small number of flights, all things considered on Thursday. On Saturday, that’s all, ”confirms Mr. Hennebelle.
At Montreal Trudeau airport on Thursday afternoon, Air Canada employees were busy serving the last travelers to fly from the metropolis, noted The newspaper.
It was calm before the storm on Thursday at Montreal airport.
Photo Agence QMI, JOËL LEMAY
A week of hell
The impact will be felt far beyond the first days of the conflict.
“It will take us at least a week for the full return to normal,” warns the spokesperson. From 25,000 travelers trapped per day, the number will gradually decrease, “but a significant number” will be affected every day, even once the conflict is completed.
This paralysis strikes in the middle of the summer season, which complicates the replacement solutions. Other carriers see their prices explode-a Montreal-Barcelona flight increased from $ 420 to $ 2475 in 24 hours at Air Transat.
Via Rail had to increase its supply of seats more than a quarter in the Quebec-Windsor corridor to absorb the demand (see text p. X).
A Quebec family stuck in Belgium now fears more than $ 17,000 for six return tickets, transforming their holidays into a financial nightmare.
The conflict even disrupts cultural events. In Quebec, the superfrancofête will have to spend up to $ 500,000 to reorganize the arrival of its French artists.
In the world of sport, athletes, coaches, organizations and diffusers are on their teeth. In Montreal, the situation concerns in particular the organizers of Montreal Beach Pro Tour.
Limited options
Some options exist for travelers that expenditure does not scare. Marco Prud’homme, president of Nolinor Aviation, confirms to receive “requests from organizations and companies that have been notified that their flights may be canceled”.
Specializing in black flights, Nolinor has “still availability to help groups from 8 to 159 passengers” everywhere in America.
Air Canada offers free changes for flights between August 15 and 18, with possible postponement until September 12. Non -refundable tickets can be canceled against a travel credit, although replacements by other carriers remain “unlikely within an acceptable time”, depending on the company.
“We hope all that [la grève et le lock-out] will not happen that it is not too late to avoid it, ”tempers Christophe Hennebelle, from Air Canada, about the deadline on Saturday 1 hour.
