Air Canada chases aggressive cost cutting as regional airlines face strong headwinds

Air Canada is planning to issue a request for proposal (RFP) to regional operators for certain transborder routes, presumably operated by its long-time partner Jazz. The plans come at a time the carrier has declared an aggressive unit cost reduction of 15% and works to improve its transborder performance that has been plagued during the past couple of years by overcapacity and pricing pressure.

But the move by Canada's largest carrier also reflects its continuing efforts to diversify its regional aircraft operating platform as a means to keep costs in check. For Jazz and other regional carriers, the move illustrates the now established and permanent trend of an ever-shrinking pool of North American regional carriers whose heyday from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s is now just a fading memory.