These airlines paused or cancelled Canada-U.S. flights in the wake of the trade war

A WestJet Boeing 737-700 aircraft is seen on the runway at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on May 19, 2023. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

Some of Canada’s major airlines have made changes to their schedules, including pausing some flights between Canada and the United States and increasing domestic flights in the wake of lower demand to fly south, which may be tied to the tariff war between the two countries.

“The airline industry on both sides of the border has seen a very substantial dip in demand, primarily from Canadian travellers,” said Ryan Ewing, founder of the airline blog AirlineGeeks.com, in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Friday.

He said he believes the decrease in demand is because Canadians are turned off by U.S. President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, such as pushing the idea of making Canada the 51st state, as well as the ongoing tariff battle.

Aviation analytics firm OAG reports another “troubling trend” for airlines with the collapse of future flight bookings between Canada and the U.S.

OAG says compared to last year, bookings are down by more than 70 per cent in every month through to the end of September.

“This sharp drop suggests that travellers are holding off on making reservations, likely due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding the broader trade dispute,” it wrote in a blog post on March 26.

It’s bad news for airlines, but there’s a bright side for consumers. OAG said some airlines may offer “cheap” U.S. airfares in a bid to boost demand.

Amid the backdrop of trade tensions, here are the airlines making changes to their plans or schedules.

WestJet

WestJet said in an email to CTVNews.ca on Friday that it has suspended these four summer U.S. destinations:

• New York to Calgary
• Orlando to Edmonton
• Austin to Vancouver
• Seattle to Kelowna

“Due to a downward shift in demand, WestJet has updated its summer schedule to help Canadians fly where they want to go,” WestJet said. “Our schedule is continuously being adjusted based on demand.”

On the flip side, the Calgary-based airline said it has seen higher demand for domestic travel, particularly between Eastern and Western Canada.

In response, WestJet recently announced three new domestic routes.

Additionally, it added service between Halifax and Amsterdam, as well as Halifax and Barcelona.

Porter

Toronto-based Porter Airlines has also made changes to meet the increased domestic demand to travel within Canada.

Porter told CTVNews.ca that 80 per cent of total network capacity during the summer peak period is now dedicated to domestic flights. The figure is up from a previously planned 75 per cent.

“We are mindful of the overall sentiment as it relates to U.S. travel,” Porter said in an emailed statement to CTVNews.ca on Friday. “Our goal is to fly where our customers want to travel, and this is a moment when Canada is at the top of many people’s list.”

While Porter hasn’t cancelled any U.S. routes, the airline told CTVNews.ca it is increasing flights in regions across Canada to meet the demand. It did not provide information on the specific routes.

However, the airline said it added service to Phoenix, San Diego and New York-LaGuardia, and introduced service between Montreal and New York-Newark. It also increased service to Las Vegas and Fort Lauderdale.

“While there may currently be instability with Canada-U.S. travel, we view New York as a key long-term market for Porter,” it wrote. “There is still an overall increase in U.S. travel on Porter flights ... this is a dynamic environment and what happens in the coming months is evolving.”

Air Canada

When asked whether it was changing its routes or flights, Air Canada told CTVNews.ca in an email Friday that it is “adjusting capacity” to U.S. sun destinations, using smaller aircraft and reducing routes in response to the changing market demand.

“We continue to monitor demand and will make adjustments accordingly,” wrote the country’s biggest air carrier. It also said it adjusted its non-stop Vancouver-Washington Dulles flights to connect in Toronto.

It said it has experienced “some softening in the transborder market,” with bookings on the cross-border market overall down about 10 per cent from April to September.

The Montreal-based airline reduced capacity for routes to U.S. leisure destinations such as Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona, Bloomberg reported March 28.

JetBlue

New York-based JetBlue said it has paused plans to introduce a summer seasonal service between Halifax and Boston “because bookings have not met expectations.”

“This is one of the necessary steps we are taking to manage our business through softer-than-expected travel demand this year and economic uncertainty,” JetBlue said in an email to CTVNews.ca Friday.

However, JetBlue added that it’s continuing to serve Vancouver, its only Canadian destination.

“All impacted customers will receive full refunds,” it wrote. “We’ll continue to evaluate the possibility of launching service to Halifax next summer.”