About a month ago, Air Canada’s customer service automatically greeted callers with a pre-recorded message informing them of the possibility to travel to the United States. While many Canadians might be under the impression that only essential travel to the United States is allowed, the airline makes the situation clear when it comes to air travel. This message and the encouragement to travel to the United States is in direct opposition to warnings and advice issued by the Canadian government as countless provincial health officials.
For free time as a business
Customers who call Air Canada’s customer service will immediately hear the following message before being presented with a menu of various customer service options:
“Do you love a reunion with friends and family in the US? Did you know that Canadians are allowed to travel by air to or from the US for leisure or business? Check out our step-by-step guide available at aircanada.com/travelguidelines to see what to expect when you travel. “
The message, set in mid-July, makes clear that US entry policy is much more open than Canada’s – which is what we covered in a recent article on travel to the US.
Unfortunately, it is common knowledge today that the overall COVID-19 situation in the United States is much less than Canada – like most other nations. To make the situation thinner, the Government of Canada has explicitly warned against all international travel. Should the airline fall in line with the government’s message? Is there a moral obligation in this situation?
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Messages from the Government of Canada
Visit the Canadian Government Travel website and go to their advice page. The first thing you will see in large, bold letters is:
“Avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada until further notice.”
Thus, Air Canada’s phone message warning Canadians of the possibility of flying to the United States for leisure, in particular, can be seen as going against the warnings issued by the government. Is the airline here wrong?
Indeed, the advice issued by the Canadian government is a blanket “global travel advice”, which makes no distinction between countries.
What is the responsibility of the airline?
The reason why Air Canada’s phone call caused such a stir is actually due to several reasons:
- On the technical side, it flies in the face of the government’s advice against non-essential international travel, and
- Scientifically speaking, it stimulates travel that is non-essential for a country in the midst of its own precarious epidemiological situation.
The big question here is: Does it matter?
The airline would of course say ‘no’. In fact, Air Canada believes that its full suite of precautionary measures COVID-19 is sufficient to guarantee a safe journey for all its passengers. Others would disagree:
“We are in the time of a pandemic and that kind of undermines all the public health measures that exist … So letting Canadians go there for free in the midst of a pandemic, it seems to be very unethical and I think Air Canada really needs to look at what they are doing. “ -Dr. Anna Banerji, an Infectious Disease and Global Health Specialist at the University of Toronto via Global News
Without a doubt, Air Canada is currently deep in a battle for survival, and it would be difficult to argue that everyone is getting rich by promoting frontier travel. More travelers flying south of the border could indeed help cut more jobs in the future. Another ‘perspective of the devil’s advocate is that it is the responsibility of every traveler to assess whether their travels can be safely concluded.
Indeed, this is a complex issue – one of which airlines are not accustomed to. But what do you think?
Should Air Canada promote and inform customers about the possibility of making holiday trips to a well-known coronavirus hotspot? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
