[rdaner]

CEO of planned Toronto-Quebec City rail project welcomes airline interest as Air Canada joins bid

Federal officials are now reviewing three bids for the project between Toronto and Quebec City and cabinet is expected to select a winner before the end of the year

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[Amare]

CEO of planned Toronto-Quebec City rail project welcomes airline interest as Air Canada joins bid

Federal officials are now reviewing three bids for the project between Toronto and Quebec City and cabinet is expected to select a winner before the end of the year

www.theglobeandmail.com

Yeah no sorry, Air Canada's only interest in this would be for the sole purpose of up-ending any "progress" that would be made with HFR. Nothing more, nothing less.

There's no planet in which the project would serve as a benefit to them and they know that. It's akin to an airline saying that they are acquiring a competitor to "provide better service for passengers".

 

[DavidJamesTO]

I'm thinking it's also so they can crush Porter in the TOR-OTT-MTL market. An editorial on Air Canada's entry into the competition mentioned they were probably after passenger data; that would help them considerably.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I don't know. I do feel like there's a scenario in which freeing up domestic gates at yyz, yow, and yul, AS WELL as aircraft to be used for other routes would be profitable for air Canada. Especially if they get to share in some of the passenger rail revenue.

I'd guess it would boil down to ac's casm (cost per available seat mile) and rasm (revenue per available seat mile) in the tor-ott-mtl triangle. If they are incurring large costs and lower revenues than other potential routes simply to squeeze out competitors and/or offer the convenience of near hourly departures, than maybe the math might work . Personally I don't know if the triangle is a profit center that is subsidizing other poor performing routes or if it is being subsidized by other routes (like say international).

 

[innsertnamehere]

my understanding of the aviation industry is that long-haul is the real profit centre. Like most industries, margins increase the higher the ticket price goes up usually.

AC may be looking at HFR as a way to free up slots at Pearson, Dorval, and Ottawa for more long-haul flights.

Plus offering code-shared access to city centres is a big deal which will help them compete with Porter.

 

[urbancog]

Short haul flights also generate more GHG emissions per passenger-km because the aircraft don't reach optimum cruise altitude and spend a greater proportion of the flight climbing and descending. So flying lots of short haul flights has a negative impact on an airlines environmental impact reporting.