Air Canada scales back U.S. flights again amid high fuel costs and weak demand

MONTREAL – Air Canada is once again scaling back flights to the U.S. amid high jet fuel costs and lower demand for trips south of the border.

Schedule changes by the country’s largest carrier show it is halting or delaying eight transborder routes starting this fall.

Three routes from Toronto and Montreal to cities in America’s Midwest will be cancelled for the second winter in a row, while three seasonal routes from Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City to Florida will start in December rather than October.

Two previously suspended routes from Montreal and Toronto to New York City’s JFK airport also will not be returning this winter.

Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat all made cuts to their summer flight capacity to the United States earlier this year as the war in Iran sent jet fuel prices soaring, rendering some routes unprofitable.

Preliminary figures from Statistics Canada show that the number of Canadians returning by air from the U.S. fell 28 per cent to fewer than 462,000 between May 2024 and this past May.

“Air Canada regularly reviews its schedule to ensure capacity is aligned with customer demand and seasonal travel patterns,” said spokeswoman Angela Mah in an email.

The airline plans to return to JFK in the future, she added. In the meantime, it aims to beef up its presence in New York with up to five daily flights between Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport and LaGuardia Airport this winter, she said. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2026.

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