Cost of living8:59Why the golden age of flying will never return
From expensive parking lots to security putt-downs to long lines wherever you turn, air travel can be uncomfortable these days.
“I now fly at least once a month. For me, it’s like being on an empty bus. Pick me up, sit me down, drop me off. They’re all about the charm of travel.” They took it away.” Susan Burns, 75, of Half Moon Bay, British Columbia, has been a frequent flyer for more than half a century.
Barnes, who was a flight attendant in the 1960s and ’70s, remembers flying in those days as being like an airplane. mad men Empty cocktail party. She flew around the world pouring complimentary champagne for passengers on her CP Air line, which operated until 1986 when Pacific Airways was acquired by Western Airlines (PWA) and then taken over by Canadian Airlines.
Barnes said her job was to give all passengers the best possible treatment, even those sitting in economy seats. That meant handing out hot towels before and after each meal. . Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served on authentic china with silverware and cloth napkins, coffee, tea and fruit came out her basket.
“We were treating these people as if they were in a top-notch facility. We just happened to be in the air,” Barnes said.
Barnes and other retired CP Air, Canadian and Air Canada flight attendants Cost of living He described the flight at that time as a “delight”.
This is a far cry from what thousands of Canadians have experienced with airlines over the past holiday season. understaffed, unfavorable weather, stop computer lead to loss of luggage, canceled flight Stranded Passengers Currently Fighting Airline for compensation.
this with summer Major travel disruption Due to the COVID-19 manpower shortage, the federal government promise overhaul Canadian Air Passenger Bill of Rights.
If you’re caught in the tangled web of travel chaos, you may be asking yourself what happened. Experts say it comes down to cost and competition, and a return to the golden age of flying is unlikely.
Fred Lazar, an associate professor of economics at York University, said staying price-competitive meant airlines had to be more ruthless with their bottom line.
“Here’s the fare. You get seats from A to B. Everything else costs more.”
career competition
Lazar explained that what most Canadians remember as the golden age of flying is the era when commercial aviation was regulated. It was a time when airlines didn’t have to cut costs to stay competitive because the federal government didn’t allow airlines to compete with each other.
“Basically, the government said this is where you can fly, when you can fly, and these are the prices.”
Until 1986, commercial airline CP Air and government-owned Air Canada (formerly TransCanada Airlines) were the two big players, according to Lazar, and the government didn’t allow much duplication of routes.
Without competition, Canadian airlines were guaranteed to attract customers and make a profit, so they could afford to offer passengers benefits on flights, experts say.
According to Julie Leblond Parker, who started her career as a CP Air flight attendant in 1968, the airline also invested in its employees. Before she took to the skies, she underwent extensive training in politeness and finesse.
“The service was based on the old European service. It was of a very high standard,” says LeBlond Parker, who now lives in South Surrey, British Columbia.
But the golden age of air travel was also out of reach for many Canadians. Collector’s tariffs and the Canadian Air and Space Museum archives reveal that flying was incredibly expensive throughout the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.
In 1950, a roundtrip Trans Canada flight from Vancouver to Johannesburg, South Africa cost over $21,000, adjusted for inflation. A flight from Toronto to Vancouver on CP Air in 1962 was about $1,900.
At such a price, LeBlond Parker said her flight patrons were business travelers, not vacationers. was.
“What was really cool was that they all got dressed up. They were wearing new costumes just to fly because it was special. It was very special.”
Goodbye blankets, hello bargains
Barry Prentice, director of the University of Manitoba Transportation Research Institute, said when the United States deregulated airlines in 1978, Canadians saw airfares “drop significantly” south of the border.
“They went up from $700 to $200 or something, and everyone in Canada was sitting there thinking, ‘Well, why don’t we have that?'”
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Canada followed suit in the 1980s and 1990s by weakening its influence on the aviation industry, Mr. Prentice said. Meanwhile, Air Canada was privatized and more airlines entered the Canadian market. Airfares have fallen as competition has increased.
But that’s not the only reason flights are cheaper, Prentice explained.
Advances in aviation technology have made aircraft more fuel efficient, larger, and capable of carrying more air cargo and passengers. Prentice said the price per seat fell with the oil glut in the 1980s.
Even when oil prices rebounded, traditional airlines such as Air Canada opposed the no-frills airline à la carte pricing model, thus charging passengers the same as before deregulation. Lazar said he couldn’t go back to doing what he did.
“A lot of people said, ‘I didn’t have to pay for a bag, I got free food, I didn’t have to pay for earbuds,'” Lazar said.
“Well, airlines want to compete with ultra-low-cost carriers, so they do in the lowest fare category. That’s the only way they can.”
Lazar, who has also worked as a consultant for Qantas, Air Canada and Porter Airlines, said stripping away luxuries and stuffing more seats into planes would “drastically reduce the comfort and attractiveness of economy class flights, and It’s a key factor in making it affordable.” .”
security snuff
While Canadians often blame airlines for poor air travel, airport security and gate chaos can also contribute to overall air travel discomfort. I have. Experts say it’s because airports weren’t designed for today’s travel realities.
From 1973 to 2008, Anthony Wade Cooper was a flight attendant for CP Air, Canadian and Air Canada. He says that before 9/11, he could get from the check-in counter to the gate in 20 minutes.
“It was completely different. I just walked into the airport and got on the plane,” said Wade Cooper, now retired from the town of Mooloolaba on Australia’s Sunshine Coast.
These days, airlines are asking domestic passengers to arrive at the airport two hours in advance, and Wade-Cooper said they often spend most of that time in line.
The security snafus is also a result of the steady increase in air travel over the past decade. Passengers passing through Canadian airports reached a peak in 2019, he reached nearly 163 million. According to Statistics Canada.
According to Lazar, most airports weren’t built for a post-9/11 world where all travelers must remove their belts and shoes. There are also design issues when passengers arrive at the gate. Lazar says some airports are designed like shopping malls, with lots of shops and restaurants but not many seats.
“I have no place to sit. Where are you going to go if the delay is too long?”
But what you get in exchange for fewer perks and crowded airports are cheaper flights, which means more people than ever can afford to fly. I think.
“As more families were able to travel, and as time went on, they became more and more fragmented. My grandchildren are in Montreal and I am in Winnipeg. We wouldn’t see each other very often.”
If you’re wondering if there’s a way to bring back the elegance or at least the fun of flying, Lazar says you can’t expect to pay the lowest price.
He said the only way to return to the golden age of travel is to fly first class or rent a private jet.
“Otherwise, accept the fact that air travel is really the same as traveling by bus, except you can get from A to B much faster.”
