spat, Business, March 11

As I read this article, I couldn’t help but think how specious Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu’s arguments were. Having a family member living in Dubai, I have become aware of the options for flying to Dubai.

Air Canada offers flights through London with an overnight layover or through Frankfurt with a change of planes and the associated time waste. U.S. airlines offer flights from Detroit through Amsterdam with changes of planes and hassles by U.S. authorities on the return leg. Emirates Air provides a direct flight from Toronto to Dubai on modern A380 Airbus aircraft. Judging by the number of people checking in at the Emirates airline counters and the 90 per cent published load factors on their flights, passengers are voting with their money.

Instead of bleating about Emirates Air, why doesn’t Rovinescu do something positive such as instituting direct flights from Toronto to Dubai? Is he afraid of competition?

To help him face the challenges of the 21st century, the federal government should grant Emirates Air daily direct flights from Toronto with the addition of Vancouver and Calgary as demand grows.

Glen N. Tolhurst, Guelph