News and notes from around the interweb:
- Canadian politicians calling for the ouster of Air Canada’s CEO after the LaGuardia tragedy because he recorded his condolence video in English speaking only two words of French. (The video had French subtitles.) This. Is. Insane.
The head of Canada’s largest airline has been summoned to Ottawa to explain why he spoke only in English when he offered his condolences to the families of those killed or hurt in the collision between a plane and a fire truck at a New York City airport on Sunday.
…“In light of this sad and gross lack of respect towards the loved ones and family of the pilot from Coteau-du-Lac, Antoine Forest, a French-speaking Quebecer, the head of Air Canada must very seriously ask himself whether he has not clearly disqualified himself for the position he holds,” Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet wrote in an online post.
Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau provides a video statement on the tragic accident involving Air Canada Express AC8646: pic.twitter.com/ZwFibpOkj2
— Air Canada (@AirCanada) March 23, 2026
- With United putting first class and wifi in their small regional jets along with big overhead bins in coach and a closet in first, aviation watchdog JonNYC hints that American Airlines could do the same:
and, BTW, I won't be even slightly surprised to see AA do something strikingly similar to this.
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) March 24, 2026
- American Airlines has planned to renovate its Washington National D concourse Admirals Club into the new lounge aesthetic which I love. They announced it in December, I told you it was coming back in August. The lounge has now closed so that they can start work.
Credit: American Airlines - Our biggest pet peeves about renting a car (WaPo). Renting a car is full of frustration after the you pick the rate you’re offered: long waits, bait-and-switch feeling vehicle substitutions, no car available for your reservation, upsells, toll and admin fees, damage disputes, and paid car seats.
- Observations on hotel turndown service and breakfast buffets (HT: Joe Brancatelli)
- Dad has family arrive at airport before it’s even built.
- Delta is expanding with Los Angeles – Florida flights. This is striking for several reasons. They are growing Florida not Miami where they want a hub. And long Florida (leisure) routes can be tough economics with expensive oil. Plus these are discretionary trips that people easily don’t take if the economy contracts. I wouldn’t have expected this!
Delta Air Lines to expand Los Angeles (LAX) to Florida:
• LAX to West Palm Beach (PBI) new route 1 daily from November 20
• LAX to Tampa (TPA) 2 → 3 daily from November
• LAX to Orlando (MCO) 4 → 5 daily from November pic.twitter.com/PI1LTgJKsu— Ishrion Aviation (@IshrionA) March 24, 2026
Again, proving my belief most politicians are total losers.
The Rousseau video is in compliance with the Official Languages Act. Yes, he could have had his words translated and read by a francophone employee, releasing both videos at once. But then people would complain that he took to long to release the videos. You just can’t win.
Canada has become a total joke. A wokester paradise where the politicians worry about useless virtue signaling nonsense and ignore real issues. This is a prime example. Speaking of French, the Quebecois are (much) more obnoxious about it than the actual French are! They literally renamed the sport of golf. Which is the word they use in France. And STOP signs can’t say STOP (as they do in France). No, its ARRET. Yet everywhere else has to be bilingual – but Quebec doesn’t. Here’s yet another taste of that attitude problem.
Even dumber are the Canadian sheeple who continue to vote for this. The last thing I’d want, as an American, is Canada as a 51st state. No way do we want to inherit that nest of idiocy.
Reminds me of a scene from the movie Canadian Bacon where a group of US citizens trying to invade Canada is stopped by the Canadian police and forced to add a French translation to the anti-Canadian hate speech painted on their truck.
Orlando makes sense. Disney to Disney. Plus, Orlando is effectively a Delta focus city/mini-hub. Delta has a flight attendant base in Orlando. I believe pilots too. You can actually fly Orlando-Miami intra-Florida on Delta. Tampa has experienced tremendous growth too.
Let the Canadians do their thing. We offer all kinds of government services in all kinds of languages but Congress and the SOTU is still done in English.
As for Delta in Florida, DL’s growth is to help thin the number of competitors and strengthen DL’s position on those routes rather than take on AA on LAX-MIA which still gets just token service.
as for AA and the 450s, if UA has control over the design of those like they reportedly do for the 550s, AA might not be able to convert CRJ200s to 450s.
But let’s also keep in mind that AA has far more 70 and 76 seat regional jets than UA (or DL) so they can put far more economical and larger two cabin RJs where they are competitively needed.
There will be a few cities where a -200 is enough because of a lack of competition or the short nature of the flights.
More of a reason to suspend equalization payments and let Quebec seceed from Canada.
@stogieguy7
Breaking news… you have a convicted felon as President.
Even dumber are the American sheeple who continue to vote for this. The last thing I’d want, as a Canadian, is Canada as a 51st state. No way do we want to inherit that nest of idiocy.
@iV — Thank you for saying what needed to be said. 222 days until US midterms.
“This! Is!! Canada!!!”
@Denver Refugee — LOL. “This is madness..” *gets kicked into a tub of poutine*
@1990 – Some years back I was nearly thrown out of a bar in Vancouver when the bartender overheard me remarking to a co-worker that traveling to Canada barely constituted leaving the United States.
Canada is controlled by a minority that keeps threatening to leave but no matter they won’t go. The only instance where I am pro-colonization is French speaking Canada.
So 8 daily non-stops MIA-LAX is “token service” by AA? Please Timmy D tell us what it should be.
It appears that some Canadians have brain freeze like we see in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, and New York State. Or maybe they are still pissed since hockey is an American game now.
Since the rise of Uber and Lyft, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve rented a car. Don’t miss it for all the reasons you mentioned, but I think you left out the $50ish/night to self-park a rental car at a hotel.
In other news, I wasted hours over the last month checking and rechecking to get the best price on a one week rental car for tomorrow. Costco travel wins by $8/day. Fingers crossed I get the car I specifically reserved since I’m considering buying a similar one as my next car.
@ IV: You have an irrelevant socialist do-nothing running a country that’s going nowhere. People make 60% of what we do to pay for housing that costs more than double. You’d lose to Nicaragua in a war. And you keep getting your ass whipped by the USA, including in hockey.
I’d recommend sitting this one out. To make you feel better, you can have Vermont.
Wow, how callous not addressing the family in the official language used by them.
If this had happened in Switzerland we would already be seeing news on how he was forced to resign.
Also, how very callous and UGLY AMERICAN to call the courtesy of being addressed in the correct official language when mourning the loss one. Absolutely abhorrent blogger.
@Mary – this video was addressed to the general public, not to the families of the pilots. I haven’t seen those families come out and complain. Why are you?
The man is not fluent in French. The video had subtitles. It met the legal requirements.
He spoke out personally, in the language he speaks, rather than delegating it to a subordinate. He had done otherwise he’d have been criticized for that.
It’s ‘absolutel abhorrent’ after that accident, with the loss of life, for your outrage to be focused on this.
Remind me again, what’s the language most Canadians use?
I thought they were mad that the message wasn’t in Arabic
“The last thing I’d want, as an American, is Canada as a 51st state. No way do we want to inherit that nest of idiocy.” Before Trump started wanting Greenland, Venezuela, and Canada as 51st states, the actual speculation was that western provinces were the more likely candidares to leave and join the US, being frustrated by the antics you note out east.