STRONG ROUTES, SEAT SELECTION & NDC A quick interview with Pierce touched on everything from summer bookings, to routes-to-watch, to NDC and Air Canada’s seat selection policy. Making sure Air Canada offers the routes customers want and need “is a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” Pierce told Travelweek. “There are lots of new routes we’re super excited about, in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean .
.. we cover the globe.
” Overall market demand is increasing, she added. She singled out Air Canada’s Bangkok service as particularly strong, and also Japan, “especially with the favourable currency exchange.” There’s no timeline yet on when Air Canada will confirm any direction on seat selection, after pausing implementation of a new policy last month.
While Air Canada passengers have typically been able to select their seats for free at check-in (or for a fee pre-check-in), the revised – and so far, paused – policy assessed a fee for seat selection at check-in (or Air Canada would select the seat for the passenger at check-in, for free). “When we do make an announcement, it will be done thoughtfully and with an eye to operational efficiency. We do know that seat selection is very important to our customers and stakeholders,” she said.
Pierce also noted that Air Canada is looking forward to marking the one-year milestone of its most recent NDC rollout. First announced in April 2023 , the NDC initiatives debuted June 14, 2023..
