WestJet flights to London prompting a wave of complaints and compensation

[twochai]

Why would you think A340 spares would be more readily available?

Because there are so few A343's still active there are plenty of spares available through dismantling.

[Drussjnr]

That was exactly my point, you could get lots of cheaper spare parts.

[wadefac]

cluckdriver you say striker lives under a rock which may or not be.......but you must live under the perma frost of the arctic........Air Canada started in 1937 and did not go private till 1988.....just 28 years ago.......hardly since pontius was a pilot...........just need to answer 1 question .......which airline got help from the canadian gov't after 9/11.........which airline was offered help with 4 billion pension deficit................i rest my case.............but then as i always say about canadian aviation wadefac

[clunckdriver]

Wadefa, yes you are correct about the dates for various Air Canada events, the only guy likely to be flying when Pontius was a fellow who got too close to the Sun, you see this is called "a figure of speech", most folks understand this, but then maybe you take everything literally! Now, Air Canada, {or TCA as it was called at the time} was formed at a time when flying aircraft across this huge country was beyond the means of private companies {this in spite of what the Richardson's might tell you} So the government stepped in, on top of this many wise folks knew that a war was likely and Canada would become the base for the overseas ferry units and the biggest aircrew training scheme in the world, again only government had the resources to achieve any of these aims. As for the privatization of Air Canada, they were tied to keeping their head office and maintenance in Montreal, hardly a level playing field for them, when CP Air finally became a basket case AC was threatened with the loss of their overseas routes if the didn't buy them out, about the only value left was some gate slots at various locations so Air Canada knew that it would result in both going bankrupt together, which is exactly what took place, in the end the merger has turned out well for Canada, this in spite of some naysayers, both ex Air Canada and CP Air. As for support after 911, even my small company received some compensation, thus it should be of no surprise to anyone that both the US government along with Canada did their best to keep the industry alive. Now, I'm sorry you received a PFO letter from AC, but try not to let your own disappointments interfere with the facts, all of the above details can be found in Hansard and various other documents, Regards, Clunck. PS, the recent pension funding was the result of some very smart investments, not a hand out, this too is in the public domain.