Air Canada is imposing stricter new weight limits on passengers' carry-on luggage.
Like every carrier, Air Canada is battling to pare costs as the price of jet fuel has skyrocketed in recent months. In an effort to lighten each plane's load, the airline has tried measures ranging from dumping empty wine bottles in the middle of a round trip and, in one high profile experiment, even stripped paint off the fuselage of one plane.
With the busy summer flying season now at hand, the ACE Aviation Ltd. unit has shifted its gaze to the check-in counter.
In a memo sent this week to employees, Air Canada president Montie Brewer wrote that this month Air Canada would introduce policy changes including one that will limit passengers from bringing more than two bags each weighing no more than 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms) on any flight. (Routes to Japan and Brazil will be exempt, while the airline said it will stress enforcement of limits on Asian flights.)
"One area where we all need to make a better effort at standardizing our policy is the enforcement of carry-on baggage policy for size, weight, quantity, whether verifying our customers' bags or when travelling ourselves," Brewer wrote. "June is a transition period, for our customers and for us, where we get used to and train ourselves to the reality of simplifying the way we do business in a high-cost environment."
Brewer also cited a recent Ipsos Reid survey conducted for the company that said the airline's process for boarding and removing luggage is showing signs of improvement. "Baggage handling is one area we've been struggling with and where we need to continually focus on to improve our track record," Brewer wrote.
Air Canada may be under more scrutiny to cut fuel costs in recent days. When the carrier recently raised fuel surcharges, rival airline WestJet Airlines Ltd. didn't follow suit.
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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