Jaunted

Though delays caused by the new measures might not dissuade international travellers who are already spending massive amounts of time in transit, it could put a significant dent in short hops by business travellers, some analysts said. Robert Mann, an airline consultant, said airlines must watch for the impact on business travellers,.. 'If it becomes something like a four-hour wait, business travellers aren't going to do that,' Mann said. 'They're either not going to travel or they're going to hire their own private lift, and just avoid scheduled transportation altogether.'...

Passengers who have already had to absorb at least five industrywide fare increases from major US airlines this year and faced additional fees for services such as bag checks or priority seating may find the new restrictions the last straw. Michael Boyd, president of aviation research and consultancy firm Boyd Group International, said restrictions that include not being able to use laptops for the last hour of the flight could hurt domestic travel, where one hour could be a significant chunk of the entire flight.

And now the coup de grace: effective immediately, Air Canada is already canceling select short-haul flights to the US. They're citing "protracted waits for customer security clearance at Canadian airports." Because airport congestion isn't already bad enough with heightened security, they have to add cancelled flights into the mix.

[Photo: Tshevlin / Wiki Commons]

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