Airline named North American leader in customer satisfaction for sixth time in eight years
MONTREAL , June 20, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada was
today named Best Airline in North America by the 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards at the
International Paris Air Show. It is the sixth time in eight years Canada's flag carrier has been
named the continent's best airline by Skytrax, whose survey of almost 20 million air travellers is recognized as the global
benchmark of industry excellence.
"We are delighted to be recognized as the Best Airline in North America by Skytrax
based on the opinions of those who know us best: our customers. This award is a significant milestone in the transformation of
Air Canada into one of the world's leading carriers and is all the more meaningful given the increased competition in our
industry," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive of Air Canada.
"I thank our employees for their hard work and dedication in helping us earn this distinction and I thank our customers
for their loyalty and support as we have expanded our reach across the globe. As we celebrate our 80th year in 2017, we are
extremely proud to be Canada's flag carrier, North America's
Best Airline and its only Four Star network carrier," added Mr. Rovinescu.
Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada, said: "This award, based on
the opinions of almost 20 million air travellers worldwide, shows customers are enthusiastically embracing the significant
investments Air Canada is making in its products and services. These include the introduction of the state-of-the-art Boeing 787
Dreamliner into our fleet, a widening choice of destinations to choose from in our expanding global network, refurbished aircraft
interiors featuring our next generation lie flat Business Class seats on all of our Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft and dedicated
Premium Economy cabins, as well as other enhanced amenities ranging from sharply restyled Maple Leaf Lounges to signature dishes
and wine pairings onboard."
"We are delighted to welcome Air Canada back at the World Airline Awards to recognize their achievement of being named
the Best Airline in North America. To receive this accolade six times, in the last eight years
is a remarkable achievement and we congratulate the airline on this outstanding, consistent performance," said Edward Plaisted, Chief Executive of Skytrax.
Since 2010, Air Canada has embarked on a $10 Billion capital expenditure program to
elevate the travel experience. Customer-focused initiatives have included:
- An expanded global network connecting over its Canadian gateway hubs to 95 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa,
Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and
South America. Air Canada is one of only a few airlines in
the world to serve all six inhabited continents;
- A fleet renewal program that introduced Boeing 777s and state-of-the-art Boeing 787
Dreamliners, with new Boeing 737MAX aircraft arriving in 2017 and Bombardier CSeries jets entering the fleet in
2019;
- Refitted cabin interiors across its wide-body fleet, including the introduction of the first lie-flat business seat
fleetwide in North America and the first dedicated Premium Economy cabin in North America;
- New International, Domestic and U.S. Maple Leaf Lounges;
- Training initiatives for customer-facing inflight, airport, baggage and call centre employees, including expanded
language capabilities. There are an estimated 80 languages spoken by Air Canada employees and in addition to English and
French, service is available from three call centres in North America in Spanish, Mandarin,
Cantonese, Korean and Japanese. From nine call centres outside North America service is
offered in local languages, including Portuguese, Spanish, German, Italian, Hebrew, Mandarin, Cantonese and
Japanese;
- Technological innovations to facilitate customer interactions, including a new website compatible with all types of
devices for a consistent experience, ongoing refinements of mobile technology, and increased investments in AI to further
develop customer-focused capabilities and information management;
- Enhanced onboard amenities such as signature dishes prepared by celebrated Canadian chef David Hawksworth coupled with wine pairings by world-renowned sommelier Veronique
Rivest, and in-flight Wi-fi connectivity fleet-wide in North America to complement Air
Canada's personal seatback In-Flight Entertainment System offering hundreds of hours of free digital audio-visual
content.
About Skytrax
The 2017 edition of the annual Skytrax poll measured opinion from 19.87 million travellers drawn from over 105 countries
worldwide between August 2016 and May 2017. The survey covers over
325 airlines, from largest international airlines to smaller domestic carriers, and evaluates quality standards across 41 key
performance indicators in front-line products and services in the airport and onboard environments.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and
international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is
among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 57 in the United States and 95 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa,
Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and
South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,300 airports in 191
countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. For more
information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow
@AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.
SOURCE Air Canada
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