Let's just see how pointless bolding and taking things out of context are. What a waste of bandwidth this is gonna be. It could only be better if this article were 3 months old. Oh well, make do with what you have.
Here goes:
Air Canada cancels flights
By BERTRAND MAROTTE
Sunday, July 31, 2005 Updated at 9:24 PM EDT
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Montreal — Air Canada's efforts to burnish its public image were dealt a blow Sunday when the carrier was forced to cancel some flights because its pilots reached the limit on their flying time for the month.
“Some customers will have been inconvenienced. We're very apologetic,” said Air Canada spokeswoman Priscille LeBlanc.
Most passengers were advised several days ahead of the planned schedule reductions, and there were only short delays as flights were consolidated and larger aircraft pressed into service, she said.
About 4 per cent of flights were cancelled Sunday as part of a “pre-planned schedule reduction due to a shortage of available flight hours on its Airbus narrow-body fleet,” the company said in a press release Sunday.
July was an unusual month in that about 70 per cent more flight operations than usual were disrupted by electrical storm activity in the U.S. Northeast and central Canada and delays in runway repairs at Halifax International Airport because of heavy fog.
This led to a significant number of unplanned flying hours for pilots, even if they weren't actually flying but sitting on the runway or waiting for clearance, Ms. LeBlanc said. Terms of the unionized pilots' contract with Air Canada cap flying time at 84 hours a month, although federal transportation rules allow slightly more hours.
Even reserve pilots had reached their maximum flying times, according to another Air Canada spokeswoman, Laura Cooke.
Ms. Cooke told CBC Newsworld Sunday that compensation for some passengers was being examined on a case-by-case basis.
Since emerging from bankruptcy protection last fall, Air Canada has mounted a major campaign to remake itself in the public eye as a re-energized domestic and international airline. Air Canada chairman Robert Milton promised to improve its flight departure and arrival times. It was not clear exactly how many flights and passengers were affected.
Ms. LeBlanc said the delays and schedule changes were unrelated to a labour dispute between the carrier and the pilots.
Montreal-based Air Canada has been dealing with union infighting among the pilots over seniority rankings for several years.
In June, some pilots threatened to delay flights as part of a protest over the festering seniority issue.
In July the airline was forced to cancel a $6-billion (U.S.) aircraft order with Boeing Co. after a slight majority of members of the Air Canada Pilots Association rejected a proposed labour pact for flying the new jets.
Pilot's association officials were not available to comment Sunday.
The flight schedule should be back to normal Monday as the airline starts a new block of time for the month of August, Ms. LeBlanc said.
Air Canada said in a news release that the percentage of disrupted flights represented less than the number typically cancelled on a bad weather day.
Only the airline's Airbus narrow-body fleet was affected, the company said.
“Recognizing the impact of these factors, two weeks ago Air Canada began making adjustments to its schedules. These changes included cancelling some flights, adding others and in many cases operating much larger aircraft than originally planned.”
For those customers who could not be reached, Air Canada said they were to be “re-accommodated at the airport.”
Many passengers had their flights re-scheduled within an hour of their original flight time, the company added.
Now where is that shitty-assed devil smiley? Oh yeah:
...for $38000 a year starting pay? Another reason to avoid going to AC!
