The economic instability of Canadian airlines coupled with lingering fears of terrorism have thrown a wrench into some students’ holiday travel plans.
“Now there are fewer flights, fewer routes, and the airlines are offering fewer seats at the prices that students are used to paying,” said Travel CUTS president Rod Hurd.
Canada 3000, Air Canada’s main rival, went bankrupt after a 50 per cent drop in ticket purchases post-September 11, and Air Canada cut back on flights by 20 per cent. In all, more than 150,000 airline employees have been laid off since the terrorist attacks.
Some students are unsure if they want to be flying at all.
“Since Sept. 11, it’s another feeling getting on an airplane now,” said Eva Koehl, an exchange student from Germany in graduate museum studies at U of T. “But you have no choice sometimes. You need an airplane to get to destinations overseas, so you have to take it.”
Koehl also said she’d be avoiding American or British airlines for the time being, sticking with Air Canada or Lufthansa. Barbara Veldmaat, an exchange law student from the Netherlands, is also flying to Europe during the holidays. “I didn’t have any problems with booking my flight, but I would be more careful. I wanted to go to New York, but I didn’t go because I was a bit afraid,” she said.
Christine Tin Sive, a second year psychology student originally from Mauritius, echoed those concerns. “Even though I know it was an accident, even though I know it was a terrorist attack, you just cannot separate those two events.”
However, not all students shared these newfound fears of flying. “Most people are afraid because they associate Sept. 11 with flying and they think they’re at risk,” said fourth year psychology student Lynn Imai.
“When you don’t have an emotional reaction to it, though, the logic is that you should be less afraid of flying because of increased security. Right now is probably the safest time to fly.” Flying to Europe in December, Imai luckily had no trouble booking a flight.
Kaye Francis, acting coordinator of the International Student Centre, was unaware of any difficulty students were having scheduling flights.
However, for those students unable to fly home, the ISC puts out a newsletter with activities in and around Toronto during the holidays.
To aid students looking for affordable flights during the break, Travel CUTS has initiated a free Travel Request Registry that will give students immediate access to student fare tickets.
Hurd’s message to students is “to book a seat now, to make sure they have the space saved on an affordable ticket.”
