Air Canada ranked worst for on-time performance among North American airlines

Another blow for Air Canada, the airline has been ranked the worst for on-time performance among large airlines in North America. CB24's Kayla Williams is standing by at Toronto's Pearson Airport with more. Kayla, good morning to you. So, tell us about this report and the reaction that you're hearing to it this morning. Marcy, good morning to you. That's right. So, we are here at Pearson Airport, where as you noted, not the greatest of news to begin the new year for Air Canada as this latest poll ranks them dead last out of major North American airlines with a ranking of 63% arrival time accuracy. So, that essentially means that in 2023, just over 140,000 flights arrived late, more than 15 minutes at their gates with Air Canada. This poll also noted too that Circium was the aviation analytics firm that put out this new report. It also noted too that JetBlue finished second lowest as well as Frontier Airlines ranking third lowest. So, when it comes to Air Canada travellers here at Pearson this morning, I've had a chance to speak to a number of them and although the fact that Air Canada ranked last on this new report, a lot of people here who I had a chance to speak with said that they've been overall pleased with the airline. Very good. I've lost items and they've brought them to me and I'm grateful. So, all is good with me with Air Canada. I usually fly WestJet, so this is my first time really with Air Canada. Hopefully, it'll be okay. My husband has experienced cancelled flights, delayed flights. He travels more than I do, so he's experienced a lot more interruptions with respect to his flights. I've been fine. I don't think I've ever had like a late flight from my experience. So, yeah, that would surprise me. Air Canada CEO Michael Russo has acknowledged the low ranking and also pointed to the summer months of June and July when Air Canada dealt with several flight delays in regards to this latest report. Now, as far as who ranked first, Marcia, it was Delta Airlines with a percentage rate of 85% accuracy when it came to on-time arrivals. All right. Meantime, I know that you're also following what's going on with Air Transat after workers rejected a tentative labor deal. Of course, this always sends shivers through the spines of travelers as they're planning their destinations, their travel to sunny destinations this winter. What's the latest that you can tell us, Kayla? Yeah, so that's right. Roughly 98% of flight attendants with Air Transat have rejected the vote when it comes to their tentative agreement, which was reached back on December 14th. We know that QP is the union that represents the 2,100 plus flight attendants for Air Transat and said that they will be going back to the bargaining table with Air Transat next week. So, it's something to certainly keep an eye on. Back in November, the flight attendants had voted against and would vote in favor of a strike mandate if a deal is not reached. So, certainly something to keep in mind for travelers, especially in the coming weeks. Of course, with winter travel, people trying to get away to warm destinations in January and into February. But as it stands right now, a strong majority of 98% voting in favor to not approve this tentative deal as it stands right now, Marcia. All right, Kayla, thanks for all that. Really appreciate it. Kayla Williams at Pearson for us this morning.