Tweet
This is just retarded. Why can airlines add "surcharges" that aren't in their "airfare"? If it's part of the cost and nonnegotiable, then it should be included. The government needs to step up and kick some ass.
Plus, $0 to $120 is RIDICULOUS. This is a week after Air Canada started charging another $25 if you want to check a 2nd bag.
I understand rising fuel costs. I can even understand raising cost of airfare to match it. I do not understand the concept of "fuel surcharges", other than they are deceptive and condemnable.
PS: Don't even get me started on this Tango, Tango Plus, Latitude, etc bull**** they have for "fare classes".
Plus, $0 to $120 is RIDICULOUS. This is a week after Air Canada started charging another $25 if you want to check a 2nd bag.
Air Canada adds fuel surcharges to Canadian flights
MONTREAL–Air Canada (TSX: AC.A) has quietly imposed domestic fuel charges for the first time in four years that could cost Canadians flying across the country an extra $120 for a round-trip ticket.
The price increases, imposed Friday, would add $120 a round-trip for flights of more than 1,001 miles, or 1,601.6 kilometres, each way. Smaller surcharges would be slapped on tickets for shorter trips.
For example, people flying from Halifax, Montreal and Toronto to Calgary, Edmonton, Regina or Vancouver would pay the highest surcharges as the country's largest airline tries to recoup soaring costs for jet fuel.
Air Canada applied the surcharge to transborder flights to the United States on Thursday, matching similar moves by the big American carriers. It added the surcharge to domestic trips Friday.
The new surcharges are $40 return for flights of less than 480 kilometres, $80 return on flights between 480 kilometres and 1,600 kilometres and $120 for longer flights.
The fuel surcharges are effective immediately on all flights booked, the airline says.
On Thursday, the three biggest U.S. air carriers, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, raised fares to improve their finances.
With the price of oil soaring to record highs, Air Canada decided for the first time in four years to no longer include fuel costs in base fares.
International tickets already have fuel surcharges, but those rates are adjusted case by case.
It wasn't immediately clear whether other Canadian carriers will apply similar surcharges.
Calgary-based WestJet Airlines (TSX: WJA), the No. 2 airline, and Porter Airlines, which flies from the Toronto Island Airport to domestic and U.S. cities, are studying the move.
WestJet also hasn't followed Air Canada's lead of charging the $25 for second checked bags on North American flights for the cheapest fares.
"The cost of everything is going up due to the rapid and unprecedented rise in the price of oil and we are no exception," Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said in an e-mail Friday.
"The situation for airlines is compounded by the fact jet fuel prices have risen even more and as of this week are up 78 per cent from a year ago."
Incorporating fuel costs within fares is no longer workable because of the volatility of fuel prices. On Friday, the world price of oil increased to a record US$126.20 per barrel.
Without the surcharges, fares would have to be changed daily, confusing customers, Arthur added.
Air Canada said the new fuel surcharges won't allow the Montreal carrier to recoup the full added cost of fuel. The airline's fuel bill increased by $130 million in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier. That number is expected to increase by more than $220 million in the coming quarter, intensifying pressure for the carrier to add more charges or reduce costs.
Overall, Air Canada lost $288 million in the first quarter, more than eight times the $34 million loss for the same period in 2007, when oil prices were about half of today's levels.
Airlines around the world have been racing to boost airfares, tack on surcharges, and charge for amenities such as extra bags and legroom as they struggle to cope with soaring world energy prices. Many airlines now count fuel as their biggest cost.
The price of jet fuel, like gasoline, has risen rapidly along with the price of crude. A gallon on the spot market in New York was selling for US$3.57 – or 94 cents a litre – this week. That's up about 78 per cent from this time last year.
At the same time, carriers are cutting back on flights to reduce costs and maintain their pricing power as the economy slows. Even so, analysts expect many large carriers to post large losses this year.
MONTREAL–Air Canada (TSX: AC.A) has quietly imposed domestic fuel charges for the first time in four years that could cost Canadians flying across the country an extra $120 for a round-trip ticket.
The price increases, imposed Friday, would add $120 a round-trip for flights of more than 1,001 miles, or 1,601.6 kilometres, each way. Smaller surcharges would be slapped on tickets for shorter trips.
For example, people flying from Halifax, Montreal and Toronto to Calgary, Edmonton, Regina or Vancouver would pay the highest surcharges as the country's largest airline tries to recoup soaring costs for jet fuel.
Air Canada applied the surcharge to transborder flights to the United States on Thursday, matching similar moves by the big American carriers. It added the surcharge to domestic trips Friday.
The new surcharges are $40 return for flights of less than 480 kilometres, $80 return on flights between 480 kilometres and 1,600 kilometres and $120 for longer flights.
The fuel surcharges are effective immediately on all flights booked, the airline says.
On Thursday, the three biggest U.S. air carriers, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, raised fares to improve their finances.
With the price of oil soaring to record highs, Air Canada decided for the first time in four years to no longer include fuel costs in base fares.
International tickets already have fuel surcharges, but those rates are adjusted case by case.
It wasn't immediately clear whether other Canadian carriers will apply similar surcharges.
Calgary-based WestJet Airlines (TSX: WJA), the No. 2 airline, and Porter Airlines, which flies from the Toronto Island Airport to domestic and U.S. cities, are studying the move.
WestJet also hasn't followed Air Canada's lead of charging the $25 for second checked bags on North American flights for the cheapest fares.
"The cost of everything is going up due to the rapid and unprecedented rise in the price of oil and we are no exception," Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said in an e-mail Friday.
"The situation for airlines is compounded by the fact jet fuel prices have risen even more and as of this week are up 78 per cent from a year ago."
Incorporating fuel costs within fares is no longer workable because of the volatility of fuel prices. On Friday, the world price of oil increased to a record US$126.20 per barrel.
Without the surcharges, fares would have to be changed daily, confusing customers, Arthur added.
Air Canada said the new fuel surcharges won't allow the Montreal carrier to recoup the full added cost of fuel. The airline's fuel bill increased by $130 million in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier. That number is expected to increase by more than $220 million in the coming quarter, intensifying pressure for the carrier to add more charges or reduce costs.
Overall, Air Canada lost $288 million in the first quarter, more than eight times the $34 million loss for the same period in 2007, when oil prices were about half of today's levels.
Airlines around the world have been racing to boost airfares, tack on surcharges, and charge for amenities such as extra bags and legroom as they struggle to cope with soaring world energy prices. Many airlines now count fuel as their biggest cost.
The price of jet fuel, like gasoline, has risen rapidly along with the price of crude. A gallon on the spot market in New York was selling for US$3.57 – or 94 cents a litre – this week. That's up about 78 per cent from this time last year.
At the same time, carriers are cutting back on flights to reduce costs and maintain their pricing power as the economy slows. Even so, analysts expect many large carriers to post large losses this year.
I understand rising fuel costs. I can even understand raising cost of airfare to match it. I do not understand the concept of "fuel surcharges", other than they are deceptive and condemnable.
PS: Don't even get me started on this Tango, Tango Plus, Latitude, etc bull**** they have for "fare classes".
Comment