Canadian airlines come out on top
Canada’s airlines are leading the way for customer satisfaction, after both Air Canada and Air Transat took home two prestigious awards at the recent Skytrax World Airline Awards.
Air Transat scooped the title of the World’s Best Leisure Airline, meanwhile Air Canada was named the Best Airline in North America for the second year running, and the seventh time since the awards were founded in 1999.
Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, congratulated the carrier, noting: "Air Canada achieved a remarkable success winning this top accolade as the Best Airline in North America for the seventh time. Air Canada demonstrates that it is truly a passenger favourite as it continues to receive such a vote of confidence from customers."
The global win is a positive sign for Air Canada who, since 2010, have invested $10 billion into elevating the travel experience- including expanding its offer to more than 220 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. It has also further invested in improving its fleet, delivering best in class cabin interiors and boosting customer service initiatives.
Air Canada has further changes ahead, such as the current roll-out of satellite WIFI and the arrival of a new Airbus A220-330 to their fleet, coming next year.
The customer satisfaction survey collects travellers opinions on over 230 airlines over a 10-month period in 105 countries, with key areas being check-in, boarding, staff service and seat comfort. Two of Canada’s biggest operators managed to win over a decent percentage of the 20 million passengers surveyed this year.
Representatives from both airlines were on hand at the annual ceremony in London to accept their respective awards. "Being singled out as the World's Best Leisure Airline is an honour we're extremely proud of, since it was awarded by our passengers," said Jean-François Lemay, president-general manager of Air Transat. "This honour extends to all of our employees, whose commitment, quality service and hard work ensure our passengers a pleasant, memorable experience, so their vacation truly begins the moment they set foot on board.”
Meanwhile president and chief operating officer at Air Canada, Benjamin Smith, expressed his gratitude, saying: “"This award shows that our customers, whom we thank for their continued loyalty, appreciate the investments Air Canada is making to deliver service that is the best in North America and increasingly recognized as industry-leading globally. I also thank our employees for their unwavering commitment and together, we look forward to introducing further enhancements for customers”.