WXweek...good posts..
in regards to
In short AC is none of the things you allege. Not government owned, no favorable financing rates for asset purchase/leasing, no break on airport rents/landing fees/air navigation fees etc in it's home country
That statement is true BUT Air Canada has a huge advantage on being the largest carrier in Canada and has used this competitive advantage in the past to dubious effect.
The "too big to fail" argument could be used. Air Canada has gone bankrupt in the past...that is acknowledged. It was resurrected (invested in no doubt because of the monopoly it has in some areas) despite being poorly run, and then allowed to compete again on routes against airlines that had not run into the same "financial issues" Air Canada did.
some would say it has never lost it's government bureaucratic mentality but that's another story.
Exactly. Are they playing by the rules of competition or are they playing their own rules?
The follow-up question might be what kind of favorable economics does emirates enjoy at its home hub
Probably loads. However that question can be asked of any major airline at any of their home airports.
555Orange
You keep talking about competition but this debate seems to be about the lack of it on the Canadian side.
We have interests to protect, and future plans to consider
Do those plans include maybe serving the growing Indian population in the GTA. The market is there...you don't even need statistics to know that...just fly to Europe on any carrier and look at the makeup of the flight (from YYZ).
The whole point of aviation is to fly people to where they want to go. "Plans" have to include that.
When I arrived in YYZ 5 years ago the GTAA's grand plan was for Toronto to become a hub to rival New York and maybe siphon some traffic off JFK/EWR ie competition. How would you do that? By having a network of flights that get people where they want to go.
Now Air Canada are restrained by a lot of the points that have been mentioned in this debate, and yes Emirates are able to operate at a considerable cost advantage. However...your future plans aren't going to go very far if you just think "canadian interests" as you will never be able to operate outside that box.
Just out of interest...you mention the China/Canada routes. The only Chinese carrier to fly into Pearson is Cathay (although EVA air are starting up..technically Taiwan) whilst Air Canada serves Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.
Why don't Air China or China Eastern fly to Toronto? Is there not enough demand.
Same with JAL and ANA to Tokyo. Air Canada fly there but not the reciprocal.
Curious if it is a demand issue or an agreement issue.