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Air Canada Named Best
Airline in North America by
Skytrax World Airline
Awards at the Paris Air Show
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Airline named North American leader
in
customer satisfaction for sixth time
in eight years
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Montreal,
CN – June 2017 / Newsmaker Alert /
Air
Canada has been named Best Airline in North America by the 2017 Skytrax
World Airline Awards at the International Paris Air Show. It is the
sixth time in eight years Canada’s flag carrier has been named the continent’s
best airline by Skytrax, whose survey of almost 20 million air travellers
is recognized as the global benchmark of industry excellence.
“We
are delighted to be recognized as the Best Airline in North America by
Skytrax based on the opinions of those who know us best: our customers.
This award is a significant milestone in the transformation of Air Canada
into one of the world’s leading carriers and is all the more meaningful
given the increased competition in our industry,” said Calin Rovinescu,
President and Chief Executive of Air Canada.
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“I
thank our employees for their hard work and dedication in helping us earn
this distinction and I thank our customers for their loyalty and support
as we have expanded our reach across the globe. As we celebrate our 80th
year in 2017, we are extremely proud to be Canada’s flag carrier, North
America’s Best Airline and its only Four Star network carrier,” added Mr.
Rovinescu.
Benjamin
Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada, said: “This award,
based on the opinions of almost 20 million air travellers worldwide, shows
customers are enthusiastically embracing the significant investments Air
Canada is making in its products and services. These include the introduction
of the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner into our fleet, a widening
choice of destinations to choose from in our expanding global network,
refurbished aircraft interiors featuring our next generation lie flat Business
Class seats on all of our Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft and dedicated Premium
Economy cabins, as well as other enhanced amenities ranging from sharply
restyled Maple Leaf Lounges to signature dishes and wine pairings onboard.”
“We
are delighted to welcome Air Canada back at the World Airline Awards to
recognize their achievement of being named the Best Airline in North America.
To receive this accolade six times, in the last eight years is a remarkable
achievement and we congratulate the airline on this outstanding, consistent
performance,” said Edward Plaisted, Chief Executive of Skytrax.
Since
2010, Air Canada has embarked on a $10 Billion capital expenditure program
to elevate the travel experience. Customer-focused initiatives have included:
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An expanded
global network connecting over its Canadian gateway hubs to 95 cities in
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico,
Central America and South America. Air Canada is one of only a few airlines
in the world to serve all six inhabited continents;
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A fleet
renewal program that introduced Boeing 777s and state-of-the-art Boeing
787 Dreamliners, with new Boeing 737MAX aircraft arriving in 2017 and Bombardier
CSeries jets entering the fleet in 2019;
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Refitted
cabin interiors across its wide-body fleet, including the introduction
of the first lie-flat business seat fleetwide in North America and the
first dedicated Premium Economy cabin in North America;
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New International,
Domestic and U.S. Maple Leaf Lounges;
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Training
initiatives for customer-facing inflight, airport, baggage and call centre
employees, including expanded language capabilities. There are an estimated
80 languages spoken by Air Canada employees and in addition to English
and French, service is available from three call centres in North America
in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Japanese. From nine call centres
outside North America service is offered in local languages, including
Portuguese, Spanish, German, Italian, Hebrew, Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese;
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Technological
innovations to facilitate customer interactions, including a new website
compatible with all types of devices for a consistent experience, ongoing
refinements of mobile technology, and increased investments in AI to further
develop customer-focused capabilities and information management;
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Enhanced
onboard amenities such as signature dishes prepared by celebrated Canadian
chef David Hawksworth coupled with wine pairings by world-renowned sommelier
Veronique Rivest, and in-flight Wi-fi connectivity fleet-wide in North
America to complement Air Canada’s personal seatback In-Flight Entertainment
System offering hundreds of hours of free digital audio-visual content.
About
Skytrax
The
2017 edition of the annual Skytrax
poll measured opinion from 19.87 million travellers drawn from over 105
countries worldwide between August 2016 and May 2017. The survey covers
over 325 airlines, from largest international airlines to smaller domestic
carriers, and evaluates quality standards across 41 key performance indicators
in front-line products and services in the airport and onboard environments.
About
Air Canada
Air
Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline serving more
than 200 airports on six continents. Canada’s flag carrier is among the
20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million
customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to
64 airports in Canada, 57 in the United States and 95 in Europe, the Middle
East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and
South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world’s
most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,300 airports in
191 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in
North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K.
research firm Skytrax. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.
For
further information:
Isabelle
Arthur (Montréal), Isabelle.arthur@aircanada.ca,
514 422-5788; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), peter.fitzpatrick@aircanada.ca,
416 263-5576; Angela Mah (Vancouver), angela.mah@aircanada.ca,
604 270-5741 |