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( For retirees of the new Air Canada family)
Number 636 special Nov 19th , 2001, We first Published in October 1995
Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson - Co-pilot - Terry Baker
To get in touch with either editor/pilot our email address is
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. Must know!
Subject: AC Travel Partner & Parent Program - 2002
From: Fraser O'Shaughnessy <
Air Canada Travel Partner and Parent program 2002
The Air Canada Partner and Parent Travel Program is renewed for another year.
Important changes were made to this cherished privilege to ensure its
continuation during times of operational strain on the airline.
Why change the program?
Within the current program, employees bear a heavy responsibility for
individuals traveling on their passes. Partners are not used to the regulations
of the industry and are unaware or unprepared for the rigors of stand-by
travel. Partners often faced stressful situations that have escalated to create
operational issues, delayed flights and loss of revenue.
Stand-by travel is a special privilege that Air Canada is proud and pleased to
provide for its employees and their travel partners. To safeguard the existence
of this program, many options were researched and all the benefits and major
concerns were taken into consideration.
The new program will continue to offer you the enjoyment of traveling with
parents, relatives and friends on a space available basis. Parents and partners
will share an annual allotment of ten (10) space available passes for travel on
Air Canada, Tango, Air Canada Regional and Tier 3 carriers. In addition, eight
(8) space available passes can be used on our Star Alliance carriers.
Program Highlights:
Effective February 1, 2002, active or retired employee, widow/widower or spouse
must accompany their partners on all flights.
Parents are permitted to travel unaccompanied at their current boarding
priorities.
The responsibility of travelling with a partner can not be transferred to
parents and dependent children.
Pass holders can travel with their spouse, dependent children and a maximum of
4 travel partners and 2 parents per trip.
Widow/widowers receive 4 partner tickets each year.
Partners and parents must abide by the Company policy on conduct and dress code
Partners and parents are permitted to travel on all Air Canada and Tango
flights, Air Canada Regional and Tier 3 carriers.
STAR Alliance Partner Program Allotments and conditions remain the same
-employees and retirees can use up to eight (8) space available tickets per
year, for relatives and friends. Only two (2) travel partners are permitted on
any trip and must be accompanied by the employee.
Travel must be booked through Speech Recognition at (888) 834-6660 (outside
North America, call (514) 369-2739) or log on to the Employee Travel Website
at travel.aircanada.ca.
For employees who do not have access to SR and ETW, call Employee Travel
Services formerly the Employee Call Centre at (800) 413-1113. As of November
29,General Reservations stopped handling these calls.
Employees must keep account of their allotment for partner and parent passes.
Service charge levels remain the same and are subject to applicable taxes and
fees.
Service Charges (one way or return)Zone 1Zone 2Zone 3North America Domestic and
Transborder Short Haul. Includes Regional flights / excludes Caribbean.
70North American Domestic and Transborder Long Haul, Caribbean, & Mexico
100Trans Atlantic and Trans Pacific travel and flights from North America to
Hawaii, Australia, & South America160
Program Benefits
Partners travel on the employee’s priority, which reduces the chances of being
stranded at an airport for hours or even days.
Fewer operational issues, such as line-ups, flight delays and congestion at
gates.
Employees can ensure the proper conduct of their partners, instead of bearing
the repercussions of partner misconduct.
A lesser amount of on-board incidents due to partner misconduct.
Eliminate fraudulent selling or bartering of partner passes
Important Dates
December 31, 2001: Last date partners and parents can travel outbound
using
the 2001 trip pass allotment.
January 1, 2002: Employees receive their 2002 allotment of ten (10)
partner and parent passes for travel on Air Canada, Tango, Air Canada Regional
and Tier 3 carriers.
January 14, 2002: Employees receive the 2002 eight (8) parent and partner
pass for travel on Star Alliance carriers.
January 31, 2002: Travel for partners and parents using the 2001 pass
allotment must be complete.
February 1, 2002: All partner travel must be accompanied.
Questions & Answers
Q: Why are you taking this privilege away from employees in the midst of
layoffs, terminations and uncertainty in our organization?
A: Air Canada has not abolished partner travel privileges for employees.
Partner travel issues have threatened the existence of the program for quite
some time. The Company made these necessary changes to reduce the operational
burden and strain it created on our organization.
Q: Are these changes, in part, due to the misuse or fraudulent
behaviour by
some employees and their partners?
A: Yes. Abuse of travel privileges will not be tolerated. Employees
suspected of fraud or misuse will be investigated and subject to severe
consequences, including a suspension of travel privileges or dismissal.
Q: Why was the number of passes decreased from 14 to 10?
A: The number of passes has not decreased. The allotment of 14 passes was
an exception to the program for October 2000 to December 2001.
Q: Now that my partners can’t travel alone, I am forced to travel with
them. Will you consider offering me a reduced service charge?
A: We do not make a distinction for the ‘reason’ why the employee travels,
therefore, service charges will not change. Partners do not have the travel
privilege entitlement with Air Canada you do.
Q: Why can parents travel unaccompanied but partners cannot? This
suggests
that parents are trusted to uphold the policies but partners aren’t.
A: There are very few incidents involving parents, but there have been
numerous incidents involving partners. In addition, parents are recognized and
have historically been extended travel privileges within the industry.
Q: Will you lower the cost of Family Affair, now that other family
members
cannot travel unaccompanied?
A: Although we are looking at options for family members, we are
unable to
communicate information at this time.
Q: What do I do if I am registered on a flight with 2 partners and the
flight only has 2 seats available?
A: You must wait for a flight that has 3 or more seats available. If you
elect to travel with only one of your partners, the other partner will not be
able to travel on the pass and will have to purchase a revenue fare ticket.
Q: What happens if I don’t make the flight that I registered my partners
and myself on, but they are boarded anyway?
A: It is your responsibility to advise partners not to check-in or travel
without you. Any instance of partners travelling unaccompanied will be
investigated and the employees’ partner travel privileges will be suspended for
5 years.
Q: Can my spouse and I travel with 4 partners each on the same flight?
A: No. Spouses can only accompany partners if they are travelling on a
different flight without the employee.
Q: Am I able to accompany another employees’ travel partner?
A: No. You can only accompany partners who are using your partner pass
allotment.
Q: Are these the only changes to the partner program? Will there be any
more changes?
A: Travel privileges, including the Partner Travel Program, are subject to
change without notice. Changes are not made lightly and every thought is given
to evaluating the benefits and issues surrounding the program to ensure its
feasibility.
Other Travel related news:
Speech Recognition and the Employee Travel Website mean business. Starting in
November, self-ticketing employees will find arranging their business travel a
lot easier. Managers who wish to register for positive space business travel
can use our handy self-service tools Speech Recognition and the Employee
Travel Website. By early 2002, not only will Air Canada ATS and Unionized
employees have access to the business travel option, but Regional employees
will also be able to book leisure and business travel.
We welcome your feedback. To reach us, send your comments by company mail to
Employee Travel & Recognition, zip 1245 or e-mail us at
We will publish your comments and answer your questions in upcoming
publications.
At our last Pionair Board of
Directors' Meeting I was asked to pass on the following question :-- As
most retirees do not have living parents, would it be possible to allow
the children of the retiree and their spouses to travel unaccompanied on
partner passes?. The children of retirees are well-experienced
space-available travellers and are very familiar with the policy, code
of conduct, and the dress requirements that is expected of them. As far
as we, the Pionairs, know, there has not been any incidents involving
these non-dependent children and their spouses when using Partner
Passes. Certainly they are not going to do anything to endanger their
parent's pass privileges. At other times widows/widowers have asked why
they have reduced pass privileges and is it possible for them to have
the same pass allotment as the deceased retiree. Their reasoning is that
they still have the same relatives and friends as previously wishing to
use the PA Pass. In the program document I believe that there is a
contradiction between Highlights item #4 and Q&A #9. Many thanks to you
all in Industry Travel for coming up with a good solution to a difficult
and embarrassing problem. Regards, Fraser
From: "Robert Petryk"<
Good afternoon Fraser
The retiree or spouse can have up to 4 partners on any particular
flight - the max number of partners on any flight is 4.
If the employee or retiree is not travelling a spouse can still bring
up to 4 guests per flight.
Another example if the retiree and spouse both wanted to bring 4
guests each (total of 8 guests) they would need to travel on sparate
flights - ie. 4 partners per flight.
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