Neha Jain: http://canadaaviationnews.blogspot.com/m 9

An Air Canada commercial passenger plane arrives at the Ottawa International Airport, Nov 18, 2010. (ANDRE FORGET/QMI AGENCY)

Kevin Polonuk inside Tory MP Steven Fletcher's local constituency office today.

1. Air Canada tacks on fuel surcharge

The crisis in Middle East is dipping further into the pockets of travelling Canadians.

Air Canada has introduced fuel surcharges on domestic flights to shield itself from soaring oil prices.

The airline tacked on an extra $10 each way for an economy class seat on flights between Canada and the U.S. as of Tuesday. Flyers in the executive cabin will pay an extra $15 each way.

"Like all airlines, Air Canada is sensitive to the price of oil," said Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick, adding fuel is the company's single largest expense. The airline spent $2.65 billion on fuel last year.

"Each time the price of a barrel of oil goes up $1 US, that costs us $25 million over the course of a year," he said.

Air Canada's biggest rival, WestJet, has not introduced a fuel surcharge as of yet, choosing instead to work the added costs into their baseline fares. WestJet has raised prices by between $5 and $10 three times this year. A company spokesman said it's difficult to commit to any particular direction going forward because oil prices are so volatile.

A Porter Airlines spokesman said the regional carrier is "evaluating the market in terms of fuel prices and competitive pricing" but has not introduced a specific fuel surcharge as of Tuesday.

Canadian airlines are following their U.S. counterparts. Prices at United Airlines, Continental and U.S. Airways went up by $10 a round trip this week, while Delta upped its fares by between $10 and $14.

One expert told QMI Agency last week airfares may be set for a record-breaking series of increases this year as oil prices surge.

All three of Canada's biggest carriers introduced fuel surcharges following the oil price spike of 2008 when West Texas Intermediate crude hit $110 but removed them once prices came down. WTI hovered around $105 Tuesday.

Air Canada already has fuel surcharges for international flights.

2. Qantas fuel surcharge hiked for second time in a month

QANTAS will boost fuel surcharges by up to 40 per cent this month as the airline industry struggles to cope with soaring fuel prices caused by the Middle East crisis.

The latest round of increases is the second in a month and means that fuel levies on a return trip to Europe will rise from $290 to $380 from March 17. This represents a doubling of the $190 charge before February 17.

Charges on a return trip to mainland US, Canada, South America, South Africa and India rise from $230 to $300, while travellers on a return flight to Asia or the Pacific will pay $210 instead of $150.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce yesterday predicted a further rise in international surcharges and did not rule out increases in domestic, regional and trans-Tasman fares.

Qantas domestic fares were increased by 5 per cent last month and low-cost offshoot Jetstar raised ancillary charges to combat increased fuel costs. However, neither was included in yesterday's rises and Mr Joyce said increases were likely to be made on a route-by-route basis.

Related Coverage
Fuel surge stings Qantas flyers Herald Sun, 3 hours ago
Qantas hikes international air fares, again Perth Now, 13 hours ago
Qantas again lifts fuel surcharges The Australian, 14 hours ago
Qantas ups local ticket surcharge Adelaide Now, 11 Feb 2011
Qantas blames fare hike on fuel costs The Australian, 11 Feb 2011

The increases come as the International Air Transport Association last week blamed rising oil prices for a 2011 global industry profit downgrade and airline analysts expressed concern about the potential impact of high oil prices on the wider economy.

The price of Singapore jet fuel has increased from $US88 a barrel in September to $US131.

3. Air Canada maintenance workers stage sit-in at MP's office

WINNIPEG — Dozens of Air Canada maintenance workers upset about the possibility of future job losses have launched a sit-in inside Tory MP Steven Fletcher's local constituency office today.
The workers, all members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Airline Lodge 714, fear that the move to transfer hundreds of their jobs to Aveos -- the company created for plane maintenance as part of Air Canada's emergence from bankruptcy in 2004 -- could leave many of them without jobs in future.
"We're not leaving until we talk to Steven Fletcher," said Kevin Polonuk, the local's vice-president, as he stood inside Fletcher's office in St. James with about 60 workers.
"We are also asking Mr. Chuck Strahl (federal Transport Minister) to address the Air Canada Act. We're saying if they sold the overhaul work then they have violated the Air Canada Act."
Polonuk said the act, formally known as the Air Canada Public Participation Act, was originally signed in 1988, and includes provisions for Air Canada to keep operational and overhaul centres in Winnipeg, Montreal and Mississauga. It was signed when Air Canada went from being a Crown corporation to a private company.
Polonuk said employees are now being told they have to choose between staying at Air Canada -- where they have seniority and pensions -- or go to Aveos, which now runs the long-term maintenance work.
But Polonuk said only 15 of the company's 500 workers in Winnipeg will be able to stay with Air Canada and the workers fear that Aveos could shut down the Canadian facilities in future and do the work at its facility in El Salvador.
Last week, Strahl said in Ottawa that Aveos has told the government there will be no job losses and he said he didn't believe the move to Aveos violated the act.
A spokesman for Fletcher said he will be available for an interview later today.

4. Air Canada's Dreamliners delayed again

The first shipment of Air Canada's Dreamliner Boeing 787 jets has been delayed again — this time by an average of five to seven months, the airline announced Tuesday.

According to the most recent delivery schedule, the first five deliveries of the new planes were to have taken place in the second half of 2013.

Boeing has now notified the airline that the delivery date has been pushed back to the last quarter of 2013 and the first half of 2014.

When Air Canada ordered 37 of the planes, the first deliveries were expected in 2010. Boeing said it will provide updated delivery dates for Air Canada's other 32 firm orders as soon as it can.

Boeing has run into a series of technical, design and production problems with its 787 program. After seven delays, the plane's production is three years behind schedule.

The first plane was to have been handed over to the launch customer, All Nippon Airways, in May 2008. Now, that delivery is set for the third quarter of this year.

The Dreamliner is a mid-size, wide-body jet that will be more fuel efficient than similar-sized planes, in part because of its use of composite materials to cut down on weight.

By
Neha Jain

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