Air Canada Named Best Airline in North America for Third Straight Year at 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards

• Airline also wins for World's Best Business Class Lounge Dining
• Employees recognized as Best Airline Staff in Canada
• Eighth time in 10 years Air Canada named Best in North America

MONTREAL, June 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Air Canada was named Best Airline in North America for the third consecutive year and recognized for the world's Best Business Class Lounge Dining, Best Airline Staff in Canada, Best Business Class in North America and Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness in North America at the 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony held today at the International Paris Air Show. It is the eighth time in the past ten years the carrier was selected as the Best in North America by the World Airline Awards, which are based on passenger satisfaction surveys of more than 21 million global travellers.

"I am very proud that Air Canada has been recognized as the Best Airline in North America for the third straight year and eighth time in ten years. The Skytrax World Airline Awards are global, highly regarded recognitions. Our continued success winning these awards shows we have truly transformed Air Canada into a leading global carrier focused on a superior product offering and customer service excellence. I commend our 33,000 award winning employees whose hard work transporting our customers safely and comfortably has awarded us best airline staff in Canada and is enabling us to compete effectively against some of the largest airlines in the world," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada.

"We also thank our customers for their loyalty and for recognizing our efforts. The fact Air Canada has been repeatedly voted the Best Airline in North America underscores our commitment to continue enhancing all aspects of the travel experience. This includes such innovations as upgrades to our in-flight entertainment systems, the introduction of onboard Wi-fi, new and refurbished lounges, streamlined airport processes, our narrow-body fleet renewal program, a new reservation system to vastly improve bookings management and, next year, a new loyalty program that we aim to make the industry's best."  

The Star Alliance, of which Air Canada is a founding member, was also named world's best airline alliance by Skytrax.  

"Air Canada's achievement of being named the Best Airline in North America for the eighth time is a remarkable achievement, and it is a fitting tribute for all Air Canada staff that they continue to receive such a vote of confidence from customers. We are also delighted to see Air Canada Signature Suite in Toronto Pearson Airport recognised as the World's Best Business Class Dining Experience," said Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax.

Since 2010, Air Canada has embarked on a $12 Billion capital expenditure program to elevate the travel experience which has included:

• An expanded global network connecting over its Canadian gateway hubs to more than 220 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is one of only a few airlines in the world to serve all six inhabited continents;
• A wide body fleet renewal program that introduced Boeing 777s and state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliners and which includes a significant refurbishment of the A330 fleet to the Dream cabin;
• A narrow body fleet renewal which included the entry into the fleet of the Boeing 737MAX aircraft, and the Airbus A220-300 jets entering the fleet in 2019;
• Best in class cabin interiors across its wide-body fleet, featuring lie-flat direct aisle access Signature Class seats and a dedicated Premium Economy cabin offering increased pitch and width;
• Signature Class Service internationally and on select flights on prime North American routes which include Toronto to and from Vancouver, San Francisco Los Angeles and, for next winter, Honolulu; Montreal to and from Vancouver; New York (Newark) to/from Vancouver, featuring an end-to-end premium travel experience with seamless airport-to-onboard services with exclusive services and amenities;
• BMW service to international flights at the Toronto global hub;
• New International, Domestic and U.S. Maple Leaf Lounges, including the Air Canada Signature Suite for eligible customers travelling in Signature Class internationally at its Toronto Pearson global hub. The suite features a la carte dining with a menu created by celebrated Canadian Chef David Hawksworth;
• Ongoing customer service training initiatives for customer-facing in-flight, airport, baggage and call centre employees;
• Technological innovations to facilitate customer interactions, including a new website compatible with all types of devices for a consistent experience, ongoing refinements of mobile technology, and increased investments in Artificial Intelligence to further develop customer-focused capabilities and information management;
• Enhanced onboard amenities such as signature dishes prepared by Chef David Hawksworth coupled with wine pairings by world-renowned sommelier Veronique Rivest, and in-flight Wi-fi connectivity fleet-wide in North America, which is now being progressively implemented onboard the international fleet, to complement Air Canada's personal seatback In-Flight Entertainment System that offers hundreds of hours of free digital audio-visual content.

About the Skytrax World Airline Awards

The World Airline Awards are independent and impartial, introduced in 1999 to provide a customer satisfaction study that was truly global. Travellers across the world vote in the largest airline passenger satisfaction survey to decide the award winners. The awards are referred to by media around the world as "the Oscars of the aviation industry". Skytrax pays all costs of the Survey and Awards event, and airlines do not pay any entry or registration fee. The awards event and award presentations are supplied by Skytrax at no charge. There are no fees or costs for airline use of the award logos and results.  Over 100 customer nationalities participated in the survey with 21.65 million eligible entries counted in the results. Survey entries were screened to identify IP and user information, with duplicate, suspect or ineligible entries deleted. More than 300 airlines are featured. The online survey operated from September 2018 to May 2019, together with invitations sent to previous year respondents in the Skytrax survey database. The customer survey was operated in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. On a year-to-year basis, the most substantial increases were noted in customer voting across the Chinese and Spanish language surveys.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving nearly 220 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2018 served nearly 51 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 62 airports in Canada, 54 in the United States and 100 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,317 airports in 193 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax, which also named Air Canada the 2019 Best Airline in North America. For more information, please visit: aircanada.com/media, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook. 

Internet:       aircanada.com

SOURCE Air Canada

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