{"id":269186,"date":"2025-03-28T22:22:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T22:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/28\/airlines-cut-seats-to-the-u-s-as-canadians-stay-away\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T22:22:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T22:22:05","slug":"airlines-cut-seats-to-the-u-s-as-canadians-stay-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/28\/airlines-cut-seats-to-the-u-s-as-canadians-stay-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Airlines Cut Seats to the U.S. as Canadians Stay Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/28\/multimedia\/28int-canada-travel-khbq\/28int-canada-travel-khbq-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Airlines Cut Seats to the U.S. as Canadians Stay Away\" title=\"Airlines Cut Seats to the U.S. as Canadians Stay Away\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Airlines are having to revamp their plans ahead of the peak summer travel season as Canadians avoid trips to the United States amid an escalating trade war between the two neighbors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A grass roots effort by Canadians to boycott all things American \u2014 from U.S. grocery products and alcohol to tourist hot spots \u2014 had already set off alarms across the United States travel industry, which warned of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/27\/travel\/canada-tariffs-us-tourism.html\" title=\"\">multibillion-dollar losses<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, about two months since President Trump took office and launched an attack against Canada\u2019s economy and its sovereignty, the fallout from Canadians\u2019 resulting anger is becoming clearer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Canadian airlines are eliminating tens of thousands of seats to the United States this April, a peak period when Canadians travel to warmer destinations. The reductions range from 7 percent by Air Canada to 25 percent by Flair Airlines, a discount airline, according to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/weekly.visualapproach.io\/p\/canada-s-american-pullback?_bhlid=28e0919800511f6792c6f65343772280dde2d571&amp;utm_campaign=canada-s-american-pullback&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_source=weekly.visualapproach.io\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Visual Approach Analytics<\/a>, an aviation research company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe\u2019re seeing Canadians book away from the U.S.,\u201d said Courtney Miller, the founder and managing director of Visual Approach Analytics. \u201cThe Canadian airlines are feeling this effect disproportionately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Travel agencies, in response, are also changing how they advertise flight packages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe completely stopped promoting the U.S. because of the backlash from the consumers,\u201d said Flemming Friisdahl, the chief executive of The Travel Agent Next Door, a Canadian company with 1,500 travel agents in its network.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The agency is selling far fewer trips to the United States, he added, as travelers redirect their spending to destinations in Europe and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s such a shame that we\u2019re in this position today because we\u2019ve always been amazing neighbors,\u201d Mr. Friisdahl said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Air Canada, the country\u2019s largest airline, said it would be reducing some U.S. flights to warmer destinations \u201cto reflect commercial demand,\u201d Christophe Hennebelle, a spokesman for the airline, said in an email.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Just how large the drop in demand is remains a little up for debate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited, an analytics company based in the United Kingdom, said advance bookings for routes between Canada and the United States from April through October are <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oag.com\/blog\/canada-us-airline-capacity-aviation-market\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">down<\/a> by roughly 70 percent, compared to the same time period last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While airlines have seen a decrease in demand, some said it has not been as pronounced as what OAG said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cNo data source is showing a decline of the magnitude that OAG is reporting \u2014 for Air Canada or in the market overall,\u201d Mr. Hennebelle said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Brad Cicero, a spokesman for Porter Airlines, said air travel between Canada and the United States remained robust, adding that the airline was \u201cfinalizing the summer schedule to ensure that flights are deployed where there is the greatest demand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">John Grant, the analyst who prepared the OAG report, said the data had been supplied by a major travel distribution company, but he could not divulge its name because of an agreement with the provider.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Canadian residents took about 586,000 trips to the United States in February, a 13 percent drop from the same month last year, according to Canada\u2019s national census agency. In a recent <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www150.statcan.gc.ca\/n1\/daily-quotidien\/250310\/dq250310d-eng.htm\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a>, it also found that the number of car trips across the border in February fell to 1.2 million from about 1.5 million in February 2024. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Canadian seasonal travelers who spend part of the year in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/15\/us\/canada-myrtle-beach.html\" title=\"\">sunny American states<\/a>, known as snowbirds, are part of the shifting tide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Florida is the destination feeling the greatest effect from the reduction in seats on flights from Canada, the report from Visual Approach Analytics said, with airports in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Orlando seeing up to a 30 percent cut in April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Major airlines in the United States are also responding to falling demand from Canadians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Scott Kirby, the chief executive officer of United Airlines, recently said the airline had reduced the frequency of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/22\/united-airlines-cuts-and-reduces-flights-to-canada\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">numerous routes<\/a> to Canada because of a \u201cbig drop in Canadian traffic\u201d into the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">United canceled a new daily route between Toronto and Los Angeles that it had planned to begin in May and said it would also reduce the frequency of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.travelandtourworld.com\/news\/article\/united-airlines-cancels-toronto-los-angeles-route-and-reduces-flights-to-canada-new-updates-you-need-to-know\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">other existing routes<\/a> to Canada.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Beyond any desire to boycott America, a weaker Canadian dollar has made the United States more expensive and is also <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/20\/travel\/strong-dollar-americans-abroad.html\" title=\"\">part of the equation<\/a> for some travelers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe exchange rate certainly helps us be more firm in our expression of not wanting to go the U.S.,\u201d said Katherine Velan, a travel adviser based in Montreal. Some travelers are opting for Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica and other destinations where the Canadian dollar stretches further.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Velan, who spoke while on vacation herself in Costa Rica, said she and her friends had encountered a group of Americans while dining out who sent a bottle of wine to her<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>table.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey said, \u2018Oh my God, we\u2019re so sorry. We love Canadians.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/28\/world\/canada\/air-canada-flights-seats-us.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Airlines are having to revamp their plans ahead of the peak summer travel season as Canadians avoid trips to the United States amid an escalating trade war between the two neighbors. A grass roots effort by Canadians to boycott all things American \u2014 from U.S. grocery products and alcohol to tourist hot spots \u2014 had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/28\/multimedia\/28int-canada-travel-khbq\/28int-canada-travel-khbq-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43329,2245,169293,740,28971,206710,3177,163575,1016,164053,2315,125,170109,52,221,14266,1021],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269186"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269186"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269188,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269186\/revisions\/269188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}