Are external airlines performing better these days?

[LuvOrlando]

Family has some traveling to do soon and while I was looking & researching times etc I considered Air Canada for a flight to Vancouver instead of going with US based. Hoping that maybe they will offer more reliable service, anyone have any thoughts on Air Canada?

 

[soccerdad72]

I've never heard anyone refer to an international airline as "external".

I will never fly Air Canada again after a recent experience, but I don't know if our isolated example is indicative of the whole airline or not.

 

[Karin1984]

According to the Skytrax Awards 2023 these are the top 10 airlines for North America :

1 Delta Air Lines​

2 Air Canada​

3 United Airlines​

4 Alaska Airlines​

5 JetBlue Airways​

6 Sun Country Airlines​

7 Southwest Airlines​

8 Air Transat​

9 WestJet​

10 American Airlines​

I will avoid flying United, because of the United Breaks Guitars song, but that's just me.

But even on the best airlines you can have a bad experience, and you can have a great experience on an airline that is considered bad.

You have to try it for yourself and then sometimes it is about being lucky or unlucky.

 

[fly girl]

Air Canada is similar to US legacy airlines. You have good days and bad days.

If the price is right, give it a whirl and see what you think. Personally, I wouldn’t spend more hoping for a better experience.

 

[ronandannette]

Air Canada is similar to US legacy airlines. You have good days and bad days.

If the price is right, give it a whirl and see what you think. Personally, I wouldn’t spend more hoping for a better experience.

Having flown countless times on both of Canada's national airlines, I give Air Canada a small edge over WestJet, but it could just as easily go the other way for many. Air Canada's loyalty program also applies to the rest of the Star Alliance network, so there's that.

 

[RedHead0186]

I've never heard anyone refer to an international airline as "external".

I will never fly Air Canada again after a recent experience, but I don't know if our isolated example is indicative of the whole airline or not.

I saw this thread title in the "Latest Posts" list and clicked on it solely to see what "external airlines" was in reference to!

 

[tvguy]

I've flown Air Canada since 1966 and I agree, it really is hit or miss. My wife was not a big fan of the times we flew Air Canada with small children still in diapers. The Flight Attendants seemed really put out when we needed to change a diaper.
Actually, my last fight was in October 2019 before the pandemic and our cruise line booked us on Air Canada into Vancouver because their fares were cheaper. It was cheaper because the routing was crazy. We went from Sacramento to Los Angeles......400 miles the wrong direction, to get on a flight to cover that same 400 miles, fly over Sacramento to Vancouver. Only issue was coming home, we again flew from Vancouver to LAX right over Sacramento.....but the LAX to Sacramento flight was delayed for 6 hours!

 

[sam_gordon]

I've flown Air Canada since 1966 and I agree, it really is hit or miss. My wife was not a big fan of the times we flew Air Canada with small children still in diapers. The Flight Attendants seemed really put out when we needed to change a diaper.
Actually, my last fight was in October 2019 before the pandemic and our cruise line booked us on Air Canada into Vancouver because their fares were cheaper. It was cheaper because the routing was crazy. We went from Sacramento to Los Angeles......400 miles the wrong direction, to get on a flight to cover that same 400 miles, fly over Sacramento to Vancouver. Only issue was coming home, we again flew from Vancouver to LAX right over Sacramento.....but the LAX to Sacramento flight was delayed for 6 hours!

I've had flights like that on Delta. Detroit to Atlanta to Lexington.

 

[tvguy]

I've had flights like that on Delta. Detroit to Atlanta to Lexington.

We flew Delta to the UK. That routing made sense, Sacramento to Atlanta, change planes, Atlanta to Manchester. Only issue we had was an 8 hour layover in Atlanta coming back. But my daughter had been going to college in the UK for a year and she used that layover to get in 3 fast food meals in the airport from places she loved but are not in the U.K.

 

[_19disnA]

Same here, never heard of the term 'external' used in reference to airlines so was curious exctly what was being asked..........LOL. There are a few of those 'shoestring' airlines I would never use. Your impression on the others probably depends on what your experiences have been and where you most frequently fly from. Every airline doesn't serve every city, so you can only choose among those who fly where you are traveling to/from.

 

[mousefan73]

Your questions too vague with your definition of performance?

My definition of performance is getting from a to B in a timely manner, safely. There are so many factors that affect performance in this case are you doing a nonstop, are you doing a connection and for you which airport are you connecting? What time of day.

ex. I would never ever schedule a flight that departs or arrives Orlando late afternoon. Weather here is a major performance factor. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been delayed circling because of a thunderstorm or even diverted twice to Miami to wait and refuel because Orlando had a ground stop. Seems to be that in late summer afternoons and early evening It’s a typical heat thunderstorm time.

 

[mousefan73]

We flew Delta to the UK. That routing made sense, Sacramento to Atlanta, change planes, Atlanta to Manchester. Only issue we had was an 8 hour layover in Atlanta coming back. But my daughter had been going to college in the UK for a year and she used that layover to get in 3 fast food meals in the airport from places she loved but are not in the U.K.

Sounds like something mine would do lol

 

[China Expat]

I travel a lot internationally, and prefer Asian carriers over US airlines, hands down.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I travel a lot internationally, and prefer Asian carriers over US airlines, hands down.

I'm flying ANA instead of United to Japan next year due to all of the issues I've been seeing surrounding United. I've heard ANA is fantastic so I hope it lives up to that.

Also I clicked on this wondering what an "external" airline was too.

 

[China Expat]

I'm flying ANA instead of United to Japan next year due to all of the issues I've been seeing surrounding United. I've heard ANA is fantastic so I hope it lives up to that.

Also I clicked on this wondering what an "external" airline was too.

I flew ANA to Tokyo twice enroute to Thailand in the last 2 years. THe service was incredible.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

A lot of foreign based airlines perform far better than American ones. There is only one American Airline in the top 20. And it's at #20. But Air Canada in particular performs about on par with the American ones. Unfortunately there are also some foreign airlines that are trash. On the whole though for International flights there is usually a foreign airline available that I would prefer to an American one. Domestically, well protectionism reigns and we've long since given up on anti trust so we're kind of stuck living a Jimmy Kimmel parody which turns out not to be a parody.

 

[LuvOrlando]

What would people call a airline that is not domestic if it is not domestic?

I am considering switching to one of these non domestic for even travel within the US, so it isn't international if I am not leaving the US, not sure how to name it but maybe you all know?

 

[SirDuff]

It's still an international airline. Or a non-US based airline. With others, never heard anyone use the term external. To that point, your argument that you used the term because it would still be a domestic flight doesn't make sense since the flight is also not external (so that term would be just as invalid).

There are also few domestic flights flown by international carriers (more now than before, since the open skies treaty came into effect but still not that many). Even if purchased through/from an international airline, many of these flights would actually be on their US-based partner airline.

 

[soccerdad72]

What would people call a airline that is not domestic if it is not domestic?

I am considering switching to one of these non domestic for even travel within the US, so it isn't international if I am not leaving the US, not sure how to name it but maybe you all know?

I would just refer to them as an international airline or non-domestic.

I don't think non-domestic airlines have US-only routes.

 

[SirDuff]

I don't think non-domestic airlines have US-only routes.

There are a few. Mainly doing US city - US city - International city (and you can book just the leg between US cities) but, you are correct, they are fairly rare (I know El Al had flights between NYC and LA, for example. Or did, at least).