Airlines grappling with reduced Canadian demand for U.S travel

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Amid an ongoing trade war between Canada and the United States, this country’s airlines are dealing with customers who are making the decision not to fly to America. Some of those pivots are cheekier than others.

Leaning into the situation is Flair, a low-cost airlines based in Edmonton that flies to several U.S. cities as well as locations in Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

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Kim Bowie, the airline’s director of communications, told the National Post: “We’ve recently launched targeted campaigns to encourage travel across our network, highlighting opportunities to explore Canada from coast to coast and popular destinations like Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.” Notably absent from that list is the United States.

“Our marketing team, like our network, is agile — quickly responding to changing conditions, including U.S. tariffs,” she added.

On Tuesday, the airline launched a campaign offering 50 per cent discounts for travellers between Toronto, Charlottetown, Saint John and Thunder Bay. The slogan: “Double Tariffic Deals,” accessible through the promo code TARIFF50. It follows on a similar campaign from last week offering 25 per cent off flights within Canada and to Mexico and the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Toronto-based Porter Airlines said: “We’ve scaled back marketing our U.S. destinations, as some Canadians may view this negatively.”

They added: “We are mindful of the overall economic situation and are monitoring booking patterns. We initially saw some softening of select U.S. leisure markets, but Canadians are continuing to travel to the U.S. Flights are being maintained to every destination in our network and we will continue flying where passengers want to.”

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Kevin Jackson, president of Porter, recently told the travel industry publication Skift that he suspects bookings may fall this year due to the rising tensions, and that the carrier has lowered some fares to keep bookings steady.

“Canadian consumers are still willing to travel to the United States, if the price is right,” he said.

Julia Kaiser, a media relations advisor at Calgary-based WestJet, noted: “We have observed a shift in bookings from the U.S. to other sun destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean among Canadian travellers.”

She added: “As a proudly Canadian airline, we are committed to ensuring that air travel remains accessible, affordable and safe for all Canadians. The airline remains focused on knowing where people want to go, and we will continue to fly where there is demand.”

In a call with investors last month, Air Canada executives said Canada’s largest airline may reduce flights to certain U.S. destinations, and add more to its domestic routes and the so-called “sun market” — Mexico, the Caribbean, etc. — if demand from travellers lags.

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“We are anticipating proactively that there could be a slowdown,” in the U.S. market, said Mark Galardo, the airline’s executive vice-president of revenue and network planning, adding: “We don’t see it right now in our near-term bookings.”

Last week, Air Transat told the National Post: “In general, we are observing a softer demand compared to last year, but it has picked up somewhat. It is too early to say where demand will level off.”

The Montreal-based carrier only offers two flights to U.S. destinations, both in Florida. In an email to the National Post, a spokesperson noted: “Our network is primarily focused on transatlantic and South destinations, which is where our marketing efforts are predominantly concentrated.”

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