Canadian Airports Council Statement on Official Languages Online Advertising Campaign

January 8, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 2014

 

OTTAWA  – The Canadian Airports Council respectfully does not support the online advertising campaign produced by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. The CAC believes that the proposed campaign will create confusion and unrealistic expectations for some travellers.

“As a matter of principle and practice, Canada’s airports are strongly committed to providing the highest levels of customer service, including commitments to provide a level of service for travellers in either official language upon request,” said the President of the Canadian Airports Council Daniel-Robert Gooch. “There are many parties involved in the travel value chain and our members work closely with all its partners to deliver a consistent, positive passenger experience.”

Excellence in passenger experience is a hallmark of the Airport Service Quality Awards, a global program of which airports throughout the country score quite well each year.

Airport Council International’s annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards recognize and reward the best airports in the world according to ACI’s ASQ passenger satisfaction survey. They represent the highest possible accolade for airport operators and serve as an opportunity to celebrate the commitment of airports worldwide to continuously improve the passenger experience.

Since its creation in 2006, the ASQ Survey has become the world’s leading airport passenger satisfaction benchmark with over 200 airports participating and has been recognized as the global standard for measuring passenger satisfaction.   In that time, seven Canadian airports have been awarded for their excellence in customer service.

Last year, Canada’s air transportation system was used by more than 120 million passengers, an increase of 3.6 per cent over 2011. This activity had a $34.9 billion economic footprint, supported 405,000 jobs, personal income of more than $17 billion, and federal taxation of more than $7 billion.

About the Canadian Airports Council

The Canadian Airports Council (CAC), a division of Airports Council International-North America, is the voice for Canada’s airports community.  Its 45 members represent more than 120 airports, including all of the privately operated National Airports System (NAS) airports and many municipal airports across Canada. Together, CAC members handle virtually all of the nation’s air cargo and international passenger traffic, and 95% of domestic passenger traffic. In 2012, Canada’s air transportation industry had a $34.9 billion economic footprint, supported 405,000 jobs, and federal taxes of more than $7 billion.

 

About ACI-NA

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports support more than 11.5 million jobs and account for $1.4 trillion in economic activity – or more than seven percent of the total U.S. GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP. Learn more at www.airportscouncil.org.