Air Canada and United Sign New Deal to Improve Travel
On Friday, July 22nd, Air Canada & United Airlines announced a new deal that intends to improve the flight options and schedules for the international routes between Canada and the United States. This joint business agreement essentially outlines the following changes to practices between the two airlines:
- Coordination of schedules, which will allow passengers to have more choices, more flight options throughout the day, and use the airlines interchangeably when it comes to recovering from cancellations, missed connections, or delays.
- The airlines are now allowed to sell seats on one another’s flights, meaning you will be able to see United options on the Air Canada website and vice-versa. They will also share revenue on these sales, where applicable.
- A merging of the Aeroplan system with the MileagePlus system, where options to accrue and spend points will be expanded.
- Addition of new codeshare destinations. This means that Air Canada and United will now offer some new destinations to their network which are operated by the other carrier.
So what does this mean for us? Essentially, it means that the airlines are working together to recover from the post-COVID slump and are trying to put a stop to the massive headaches associated with travelling between the two countries at the moment. The border between the United States and Canada was the second-most active border for flight routes in 2019, which means it is one of the most frequently travelled in the world and, unsurprisingly, one of the most affected by recent events.