Just yesterday, the Canadian Labor Minister Lisa Raitt was set to meet with representatives of Air Canada and its flight attendants’ union. The goal of this meeting was of course to help avert strikes altogether. After all, Air Canada is the country’s largest airline, and a strike would be very devastating.

Of course, even if the strike does happen on Wednesday, it is not known how long it will actually last. That is because there have been rumors that the government is in the middle of coming up with a quick legislation that could end the strike. Although it may seem unlikely that the government would do such a thing, they have already done it once when Air Canada’s call-center and check-in staff tried to strike.

Peter Van Loan, who is the Government House Leader, was not available for comments on this matter on Monday. However, he did recently tell reporters that it is his hope that a settlement can be made between the two sides. That is the best outcome for this situation. Right now, people are working hard on making this a reality.

Even if there is a strike, Air Canada did say that they would remain operational. However, the airline would only be able to operate on a partial schedule. The airline would likely cut local routes first as international flights make them the most money.

This is just the latest in a series of animal scares on a plane. Just last April a Qantas flight had to be grounded in Australia after four python snakes escaped from a cage. On another fight, in October, a jet from New York to Heathrow was halted on the runway after a mouse ran through the cabin.

Richard Jones, age 25 from London, had been due to collect his girlfriend Victoria from Heathrow. He said that she called to say that they had boarded the plane and the doors were closed when the captain came on the PA system. He apparently said that they had bad news, because a giant rat had been seen in the overhead lockers, and they needed everyone to get off the plane while they tried to find it. However, after about 30 minutes the captain walked up to the gates and shook his head. They announced that the flight was canceled.

Richard Jones’ girlfriend still arrived to the UK the other night after taking another jet. He went on to say that he has heard a lot of excuses for planes being delayed before, but he had never heard of a flight being canceled because of a rat.

Both Canada and Europe agree that this new agreement could allow for great control, as well as ownership between European and Canadian airlines. This would be due to the fact that the open skies agreement makes all the restrictions much more relaxed.

As a result of the new deal, the Canadian government does plan to increase its limits on foreign ownership. The goal is to increase the limit of voting stock from 25% to 49% Due to these increased limits, such major Canadian carriers as WestJet Airlines and Air Canada are both said to be receptive to outside investment.

Also, due to the new open skies agreement, existing restrictions, as well as high prices and the frequency of flights between Europe and Canada, are going to be replaced. This will most likely dropping the price of flights between the two countries, as well as increasing the number of flights that travel between the two countries every month.

The European Commission says that this could be very beneficial to the European economy. The deal could result in more than 500,000 more passengers for airlines in just its first year alone. On top of this, the European Commission also notes that it is likely to create more than 1,000 new jobs. In all, this new deal could bring in more than €72m in economic benefits. These kinds of benefits are also very likely for Canada end as well.

Reports from the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit say that the man became digressive and incoherent before he refused to observe the safety measures of the aircraft. The pilot was made to judge that the co-pilot had become so uncooperative and aggressive that he wasn’t fit to continue working.

After this, the pilot requested for someone on board who had experience flying to help with the emergency landing. However, nobody on the plane other than one of the attendants could possibly help, as she holds a commercial license for flying but has an expired cockpit instrument reading qualification. The stewardess helped land the plane safely, which was a Boeing 767 with 150 passengers, in Ireland at the Shannon Airport. The pilot remarked that the stewardess wasn’t out of place while she helped land the plane.

Despite no indication of the psychiatric diagnosis of the co-pilot, the report indicated that he was fully authorized to fly, flying about 6,500 hours. He apparently spent a week and a half in a mental health ward before transferring from Ireland back to Canada by air ambulance.

Learn more about the airline at: www.aircanada.com

Those who use Air Canada for their travels will be happy to learn that the carrier will be offering Wi-Fi internet connections on some of their long haul flights beginning in 2009. The program will begin as a pilot on the Toronto to Los Angeles and San Francisco flights and will be provided by Gogo. The service will cost travelers $12.95 per flight.

Air Canada’s VP of Marketing notes that “The airplane is really the last bastion that lacks Internet connectivity” and that it’s time Canadian travelers have the chance to stay connected. In a effort to stand out from the competition the airline began working with Aircell in order to make the project successful. The initial offering will be expanded on once Aircell completes the erection of 18 towers needed to provide coverage across the nation.

Air Canada is not the only Canadian airline looking into Wi-Fi options. Competitor West Jet has pursued the possibility but has no plans to install the services yet. While some might fear the new technology will interfere with the in flight navigation system representatives from Air Canada and Aircell have conducted tests that prove there won’t be any problems between the systems.

Learn more at: www.aircanada.com

Fran Phillips, the Senior Vice President of Aircell, said that she believes this is one thing that travelers will anticipate and carriers will feel like they have to provide. She said that they would like to provide their service of Gogo Internet to WestJet Airlines and Air Canada. They have talked to both of the airlines in Canada, as well as an airline in Mexico, she continued, and all of them seem to be very interested. They are a little further along with a few carriers than they are with others in making an agreement, she added.

Air Canada has said that they are looking into providing a service for surfing on the internet. They did not release any details on when they may be doing this, how much they are planning to price the service, or to whom they are talking to about the provision of the service. WestJet Airlines is looking into internet service during their flights as well, but they don’t anticipate to offer it any time really soon.

To get more information, go to www.aircanada.com -or- www.westjet.com

The airline’s move comes as they prepare to reduce their capacity by 7% for the autumn and winter seasons and cut 2,000 jobs in order to deal with the amazingly high cost of fuel and decreased demand for air travel, especially throughout the US. Rousseau told analysts that they are planning on spending a large amount of time taking a look at that during the next few months. He didn’t give any details of the structure or timing of any transactions. However, he continued, they have obviously done their homework in determining what the conditions of the market are and what is available to them, so they will take the opportunity when it shows itself.

Air Canada had short-term investments and almost 1.5 billion Canadian dollars in cash by the 2nd quarter’s end to draw on, which is lower than last year’s 1.8 billion Canadian dollars. Montie Brewer, the Chief Executive of Air Canada, said that the results from the quarter show the difficulty of increasing revenues to match the quick pace of the rising fuel costs. However, he continued, their passengers will eventually be made to absorb that higher cost.

Find out more at: www.aircanda.com

Lesley Swann, the President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, has said that they don’t see it that way. All of their flight attendants have come away from their flights after seeing that they are full, so the airline needs to show them where they are losing the money, she continued. She thinks that they are taking hold of the crisis and the price of oil to use them for an excuse to close the bases and cut jobs. The total number of flight attendants that will lose their employment is 630 by the time November 1^st comes around as part of the broader streamlining efforts that Air Canada announce in the middle of June for cutting capacity 7% and laying off as many as 2,000 people.

To learn more, go to www.aircanada.com

The airfare price for traveling to Hlifax from St. John’s are only 109 dollars each way, and flights to Toronto from Halifax are only 119 dollars. Passengers who want to fly to western Canada will only pay 115 dollars on the Vancouver and Edmonton route. Some of Air Canada’s international destinations with discounts include trips to Munich from Montreal for just 315 dollars each way, Paris from Québec for only 350 dollars, and London from Vancouver for 444 dollars. For those who wish for a sunny destination, flights to Bermuda from Ottawa are only 285 dollars and airfares for United States flights can be purchased as cheap as 128 dollars on the Chicago from Toronto route.

Passengers have to remember that the airlines in Canada don’t include surcharges and tax in the quoted price, and Air Canada is one that doesn’t. Because of this, all of the prices that Air Canada lists on their website will be higher when the other charges are included into the price. The travel period is also restricted for September 3^rd through October 31st. As a rule of thumb, potential travelers will get the best prices for departures on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Go to www.aircanada.com to get more information.

Lisa Vivian Anthony, the President of Halifax’s Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4090, said that they are shocked and can’t believe it. Their base has been operational for 32 years in Halifax, so this is basically the end to an era to them, she added. A Canadian Union of Public Employees representative commented that members would be getting packages soon, which would outline their options. According to CBS News, some of the attendants who are losing their jobs could possibly transfer to a Montreal or Toronto position.

Bernie Schwartz, a flight attendant that has served in Winnipeg for 29 years, says that the closing of the hub means that she will have to move or commute to one of the cities, which will be something of a challenge. She also said that moving for her family is not an option, but that option would work better for those flight attendants who are single. Her family may consider moving, she continued, but they aren’t living in Winnipeg because of the flying; they are here, because this is were their families and lives are. She also added that rumors have been going around for years about the hub closing, but now that it is actually happening, the reality of for her and others is devastating.

Visit www.aircanada.com to book a flight or get more information on Air Canada.