Flying in Fall 2020 - An Air Canada Update

Flying, to say the least, has changed significantly over the past few months. There have been studies claiming that the risk of getting Covid on a plane were quite low (by none other than United, which absolutely has no stake in this), while others have asserted a lower proportion of flight attendants are infected by Covid than the general population. Of course, neither of those sources have absolutely any vested interest in the outcome of their studies.

Regardless, people are still rightfully cautious about getting onto aircraft, and, as Nick noted, passenger numbers in the US and Canada have remained substantially below their historical averages. This report will showcase what it was like to fly Business Class domestically in 2020.

Disclaimer

A reminder that as of writing, the Government of Canada has issued an Official Global Travel Advisory advising against all non-essential travel outside of Canada. Concurrently, several of Canada’s provinces/territories have asked travelers to self-quarantine upon arrival. As of this flight, neither Ontario, Saskatchewan nor British Columbia have asked travelers to do so.

Lounge

Air Canada has recently reopened a few Maple Leaf lounges, including those in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. I visited both the Vancouver and Toronto lounges and did not see that big of a difference between the two, particularly as service was substantially scaled-down due to a lack of demand.

Toronto - Now a ghost town

Vancouver – More planes than people (sometimes!)

There were two types of food at the lounge: a quick grab and go option, or a slightly more substantive, but still scaled-down, dine-on-demand option.

I grabbed many muffins, which didn’t taste half bad, along with fruit cups and watery yogurt/granola. The hot food options were a bit better, and for breakfast, I got the quiche with fruit and marveled that I was still able to get strawberries that late into the fall (#capitalism). To order, you had to scan the QR code displayed on the table with your phone, input in your order, and then have an attendant came over with the food. Service at both YYZ and YVR was efficient, as I estimate it took 5-10 minutes for all my items to arrive.

YVR Maple Leaf Lounge Breakfast

In Toronto I had a bit more food, and given I love brunch, this was perfect given my slightly misaligned sleep schedule. Whilst obviously not restaurant quality, the sausage, eggs, and waffles were more than sufficient for a quick snack.

Editors note - this doesn’t look that good to me, maybe Alex needs a new camera!

That being said, there is still quite a ways to go before the lunch menu food gets back up to prior standards; see below for “Chef Park’s Special” and “Ginger Beef” that was served for lunch, neither of which were particularly appetizing. Airport lounges did start service alcohol again, which is definitely a mixed blessing 

Nothing special about this “special”

One small area of annoyance was that Air Canada gave water in the form of a tiny, 220ML bottle; I felt that they could have increased the size of the bottles to cut down on plastic waste. Indeed, while the lounge did feel safe, I was a bit guilty looking at the sheer amount of plastic that was generated to maintain a safer environment.

The Airport

Toronto and Vancouver are, and most likely will still be, the two busiest airports in Canada. I have already reviewed Vancouver in the past, and the amount of foot traffic in Toronto was at a similar pace. Thus, I will showcase Regina airport, which I imagine is representative of the overall activity at most airports in Canada, and around the world.

First, the depressing flight board that showed less than 10 flights for the entire day. I would say Toronto Terminal 1 had around 30, which is certainly below its long run average.

Next up, the empty entrances and staircases that dozens once rushed down, eager to be home or off to a new adventure.

I would not be too concerned with social distancing given the lack of people in the terminal, although it still pays to be vigilant and wear a mask.

The Flights

Having already reviewed Air Canada’s flagship Dreamliner product, I decided to try out their regional products. I will say, across all my flights, the business class cabin was at most 20% full; indeed, I was the only passenger in the cabin for my Vancouver to Edmonton flight!

Famously not a Canadair RJ900

The first few flights were on the Canadair Regional Jet 900, which, as the name suggests, was designed by Bombardier for the regional air transport market. The plane has 12 business class seats, along with 64 economy class seats. Given the first variants of this plane were delivered before the turn of the millennia, the décor was a tad outdated.

But aren’t those massive bulky middle dividers cute?

Given the short length of the flights, and general uneventfulness, I will not be doing a full review.

My next flight, I took the newest jewel of Air Canada’s fleet, Airbus A220-300’s. The first planes were delivered to Air Canada in late 2019, and are expected to work both domestic and transborder destinations.

The seats definitely were more comfy and responsive, and quite well designed; the tray table folded elegantly into the side of the seat. Ricky over at Prince of Travel has written an extensive review, and not much has changed since his flights.

I’ll add in another picture from a Dreamliner flight; nothing much has changed since my last review, besides the addition of new water bottles, along with a sealed blanket/pillow amenity kit that reminded passengers that they were indeed sitting on an Air Canada plane.

So, we will now focus below on the parts of the flight with the greatest changes: the soft product.

Below are some goodies that were handed out all my flights:

Seriously though, I think half of the Clean Care plus bag is superfluous, particularly the headphones, pretzels, cookies and information card. Thankfully Air Canada agreed, for when I got my next Clean Care Plus bag the pretzels and information card was removed. And now, we turn to the bigger question: what does food and drink look like?

Breakfast

I must say the Air Canada product designers have done a fantastic job aesthetically; both the breakfast and lunch boxes were simple yet elegant.

Lunch/Dinner - Slick box, too bad the food sucks

However, I cannot say the same about the food inside those boxes, which in my opinion is woefully not up to standard. This is more a criticism of management and Chef Park (seriously, this is diluting his brand name so much that I would pay at most $5 for a meal from him) as opposed to the individual cooks, flight attendants and pursers. At this point, it feels more like a cost cutting exercise as opposed to a safety one; indeed, many overseas airlines have reintroduced proper meal service with appropriate precautions.

Lunch

When compared to what I was served in the lounge, the airplane food was cold, over-processed, and bland.

Lunch

Alcohol was once again being served, through in miniature bottles so as to minimize contact. I received these lovely, chilled Bottega Gold Prosecco; as someone who is quite basic, I loved both the design and the taste.

I did fly the Dreamliner product a bit later in the year, and the food improved slightly: there was now a hot option of Chicken, and the quality of the takeout food was slightly better. Interestingly enough the crew didn’t give me a choice of meat or meatless option, and just handed me a platter, so take that vegetarians!

While the chicken was hot, the dessert was frozen!

However, there is one that has not changed: the view!

Vancouver – the best and most unaffordable city in Canada! And rainy

Edmonton – Where the hockey team can’t really beat anyone

Regina – Flatter than a pancake!

The Point

At this POINT, I would say business class passengers are really paying for a better seat and a greater likelihood of being socially distant from other passengers. The service has gotten better as flight crews have adjusted to the new normal, and for the most part, I felt quite safe. For anyone flying, please follow guidelines and wear a mask, wash your hands, avoid unnecessary contact with others, get an approved vaccine, among other things. After all, the sooner we can get through this the sooner we can go back to popping bubbles properly at 40,000 feet!