Reference no: EM132809666

The codeshare agreement and membership with Star Alliance enables Air Canada passengers' access to destinations which would otherwise have been unreachable without Air Canada's specific presence. This strategy still leaves a lot to be desired. Poor routing and connectivity include long layovers, multiple connections taking the total travel time into days, insufficient number of flights to a destination, no service to destinations who have a popular demographic in Canada, etc. Air Canada has made some progress by introducing direct flights to a number of destinations from Canada; however, there is more to be done. The domestic aviation market is highly untapped for reasons beyond economics. While Air Canada may have its own subsidiary that caters to the smaller destinations, surveys and popular opinions indicate that the supply falls short of the demand. Such a situation leaves both international and domestic markets open to competitors (new and existing alike) to grab a major share of the business.

While the pandemic has bled the airline industry, it could have been a perfect opportunity for the likes of Air Canada to consolidate itself at least in the domestic segment. It announced further cuts in mid of January 2021 that has resulted in Atlantic Canadian cities such as St. John's, Gander, Sydney, Fredericton, etc. and British Columbia cities such as Kamloops, Prince Rupert, etc. totally disconnected from the rest of the country. It is a great cause for concern and citing operational reasons will cut no ice with the ordinary citizen. This is why the routing and connectivity aspect will come to bite Air Canada in the coming years if not addressed promptly.

How can HR strategic planning mitigate this threat?