According to Scott O’Leary, vice president of loyalty and product at Air Canada, the airline takes less of a hit from offering free beer and wine than it would from lowering baggage fees, helping offset handling costs. “Food and beverage just tend to have a disproportionate impact on customer satisfaction, more than any other attribute of our products and services,” he told Reuters.
As for how many free drinks you’re permitted to consume, the Air Canada website states, “Alcohol will be served to persons of the age of majority and in a responsible manner.” (The new policy will also cover Heineken 0.0, a non-alcoholic beer.)
Hopefully, overly rowdy passengers won’t ruin the fun for everyone else: Per the Federal Aviation Administration, the rate of unruly passenger incidents on planes has steadily dropped by over 80% since record highs in 2021, but the problem still persists, with 1,205 instances occurring so far this year.
As the largest non-US airline operating from the US, the free booze may be especially appeal to Air Canada’s American customer base. US travelers often take advantage of the carrier’s “sixth freedom” routes to Europe and Asia, an industry term for flights between two foreign nations via a stop in an airline’s home country. For US-based passengers flying on long-haul international routes, a Canadian layover in Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver can help reduce travel times, in addition to offering a smoother customs and immigration processing experience, when compared to layovers on the other side of the Atlantic.
