Air Canada Rouge

Air Canada Rouge

IATA RV ICAO ROU Callsign ROUGE
Founded	December 2012[1]
Hubs	Calgary International Airport Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport Vancouver International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Aeroplan
Airport lounge	Maple Leaf Lounge
Alliance	Star Alliance
Fleet size	30
Destinations	49
Parent company	Air Canada
Website	flyrouge.com

Air Canada rouge A319 at Montreal-Mirabel

Air Canada rouge is a Canadian leisure airline based in Toronto.^[2] The carrier is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Canada and is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks. Flights are sold with AC flight numbers, but are listed as "operated by Air Canada rouge" (similar to regional flights operated under the Air Canada Express banner).

History

The airline was launched in December 2012 and began services on July 1st, 2013. It is part of the Air Canada Leisure Group. At the time of the launch it had a fleet of four aircraft, 2 Airbus A319s and 2 Boeing 767s, transferred from the parent company. Its fleet expanded to 28 aircraft within 18 months and is expected to reach 16 Boeing 767s, 20 Airbus A319s and 5 Airbus A321s by mid-2017.^[3]

On March 24, 2014, Air Canada announced plans for Air Canada rouge to expand into Western Canada beginning in spring 2014, to serve predominantly leisure markets from Vancouver and Calgary to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Honolulu, Maui and Anchorage.^[4]

A seasonal service from Vancouver to Osaka/Kansai is expected to start in May 2015.^[3]

Destinations

Air Canada rouge serves predominantly leisure destinations in Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and the United States. Destinations in Europe include Edinburgh, Venice, Athens, Lisbon, Dublin, Nice, Barcelona, Rome and Manchester. Destinations in the Caribbean include Cuba, Jamaica, Curaçao and the Dominican Republic. As of the Summer 2015 Air Canada rouge plans to expand within Canada, servicing summer flight between Calgary - Halifax, Calgary - Hamilton, Toronto - Kelowna, Toronto Abbotsford and year round service between Toronto - Sydney NS.

Fleet

The Air Canada Rouge fleet consists of 29 aircraft (as of March 26th 2015).^[5][6]

The Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319 has 16 more seats than a regular Air Canada Airbus A319,^[7] with 142 seats. The first four rows being for rouge Plus and Premium rouge passengers.^[3] The Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER carries 53 more passengers than most regular Air Canada Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, ^[8] with 280 seats. Of these 221 are economy, 35 rouge Plus and 24 Premium rouge.^[3] Air Canada has switched over to Rouge planes on routes previously serviced by mainline Air Canada aircraft, in some cases after tickets have been booked, generating customer complaints.^[9] Customer reviews of Air Canada Rouge on Skytrax have been predominately negative.^[10]

Services

Air Canada Rouge does not have individual video displays and is instead equipped with a wireless streaming entertainment system that passengers can use directly on their personal devices, such as Apple iOS and Android devices, as well as laptops. The streaming system only works if the Air Canada application is downloaded prior to the flight.

Baggage policy is the same as Air Canada's, and catering is complimentary on flights to/from Europe, with a buy-on-board offering on all other flights in line with the mainline service. Air Canada's mainline economy class fare services (Tango, Flex and Latitude) apply to the new carrier with some adjustments.

Long tarmac delays

Air Canada Rouge has been cited by the United States Department of Transportation for violating the tarmac delay rule on an Orlando-Toronto flight in January 2014, resulting in a $90,000 civil penalty. The delay was triggered when weather diverted the flight to Buffalo at 10:09 p.m. on Jan. 11. Under the United States Department of Transportation rules for international flights, the carrier was required to provide food and water after two hours on the ground, and to give passengers an opportunity to deplane after four hours.

Believing that the aircraft could be quickly refueled and dispatched to Toronto, Rouge did not request a gate until after three hours had passed. Passengers eventually deplaned at 2:50 a.m., after the four-hour deadline.

Half the amount will be waived if the carrier avoids repeat violations for one year.^[11]

References

External Links

• Official website