Air Canada is now officially offering free inflight Wi-Fi on all on all North American and Sun Routes. This comes hot on the heels of WestJet just launching their free inflight Wi-Fi over the past few weeks. However, it does appear Air Canada has quickly eclipsed them for overall availability with 88% of Air Canada’s fleet offering fast free inflight Wi-Fi as of today. The remaining aircraft in the fleet will be completed by early 2026.
The roll out of free inflight Wi-Fi
Complimentary onboard Wi-Fi can now be found on Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and select Air Canada Express (CRJ-900) Wi-Fi equipped aircraft for flights within North America and to Sun markets. Subject to completion of certification, Wi-Fi installations are expected to start on the Embraer E175 fleet and the De Havilland Q400s serving Billy Bishop Airport later this year. Finally, the airline plans to expand free Wi-Fi service to long-haul international routes in 2026.
Air Canada may leapfrog their rival, WestJet, who announced free inflight earlier in deployment of the complimentary service as it will become available on over 85% of Air Canada’s fleet from day one with the remaining installations taking place during 2025.
“Quality connectivity has become indispensable for all travelers. Starting today we’re thrilled to offer complimentary Wi-Fi on North American, Mexican and Caribbean flights for Aeroplan Members, by partnering with Bell,” said Mark Nasr, Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer at Air Canada. “This initiative underscores Air Canada’s focus on elevating the customer experience, with leadership in providing streaming quality connectivity, at a pace unmatched by other airlines — at home and around the world. We now offer Wi-Fi on 88 per cent of our fleet, with the remaining installations to be completed by early 2026. This will include an industry first with the upcoming launch of Wi-Fi on Air Canada Express Q400s serving Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport.”
Industry first free Wi-Fi on Dash 8 Q400 aircraft
What can be seen as a direct shot sent into Porter Airlines’ court – Air Canada will be the first in the industry to offer free Wi-Fi on their De Havilland Dash 8 Q400 aircraft. The service will be offered on select regional routes between Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport and Montreal and Ottawa.
“Certification is in the process of being obtained and the first phase of installation of Wi-Fi connectivity on the Air Canada Express Q400 fleet operating at Toronto Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ) is expected to take place later in 2025. These installations will represent the first Wi-Fi offering on any Q400 aircraft worldwide and Air Canada will also be the first carrier to offer Wi-Fi on flights to and from YTZ. Certification followed by installation of Wi-Fi on the Air Canada Express Embraer E-175 fleet is also underway.”
Free Wi-Fi will be for Aeroplan members
Following in the footsteps of airlines like Delta and WestJet, the inflight Wi-Fi that is sponsored by Bell will be free for all Aeroplan members. Like the other airlines, Air Canada will likely see small spikes in membership acquisition right before a flight is boarded as passengers who aren’t members join the program right at the gate so that they can get the free on their flight.
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Image via CNW Group/Air Canada
Originally posted on December 12, 2024 @ 8:11 am