Air Canada Introduces New Commission Caps for Travel Agents

Air Canada today followed other major North American carriers in announcing the restructuring of its travel agency cap on commissions for tickets issued in Canada and the United States for domestic Canada and transborder U.S. travel.

Effective August 28, 2001, 00:01 EDT, tickets purchased in the United States to all destinations in Canada, will continue to earn a 5 per cent base commission with a maximum of USD $20 for round trip travel and USD $10 for one way travel. The caps on commissions paid to U.S. agencies are currently USD $50 and USD $25 respectively.

Effective September 24, 2001, 00:01 EDT, tickets purchased in Canada to all Canada and U.S. destinations will continue to earn a 5 per cent base commission with a maximum of CAD $28 for round trip travel and CAD $14 for one way travel. The caps on commissions paid to Canadian agencies for domestic travel are currently CAD$60 and CAD$30, respectively, and for transborder travel CAD $70 and CAD $35, respectively.

The restructuring of travel agency caps to remain cost competitive with other major North American airlines is consistent with Air Canada's Action Plan launched August 1, 2001. The Plan is being implemented to transform Canada's national carrier to meet the new challenges and opportunities of the rapidly changing airline industry. Among the key elements of the Air Canada Action Plan are the reconfiguration of the fleet; the introduction of innovative new products; the e-powering of Air Canada's customers; the planned launch of a low-fare carrier later this year; and various new cost-reduction and profitability initiatives.

Today's announcement follows other initiatives including the airline's successful on-line seat sale launched August 2, the carrier's expansion of its South Pacific network in response to market growth opportunities and the introduction of competitive, low one-way fares between Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.