Canada airline operators to ground planes over millennium

The two major Canadian airlines have become the latest in a line of operators to cancel flights over the millennium period.

Air Canada and Canadian Airlines claim the cancellations have nothing to do with the millennium bug but admit there has been a severe drop-off in demand.

According to a statement from Air Canada "most Air Canada flights between 6:00pm Friday 31st December 1999 and noon Saturday 1st January have been cancelled". It continued: "Advanced bookings indicate there is less market demand than usual for flights. We can deduce that customers would prefer to celebrate this milestone New Year's holiday with friends and relatives rather than in flight. In addition, because 1 January falls on a Saturday, demand for travel is even lower that day."

Both airlines claim it is common practice to adjust schedules on an ongoing basis to respond to changes in market demand. A spokeswoman for Canadian Airlines told Silicon.com: "We do have one or two cancellations, but this is not unique to this year. You often see cancellations on Christmas Eve and New Year."

But Hugo Baas, communications manager at Dutch airline, KLM, said it is unrealistic to assume it is only a seasonal lack of demand. "It is a special occasion - but safety is also important. It's a mixture," he claimed.

"There will be areas in the world that won't get through the millennium without problems. And if you do get away before the millennium no one can predict what will happen with your return flight." Bass added that KLM will be issuing a similar statement soon, cancelling some of its own millennium flights.

Air Canada said its schedule will return to normal by midday 1 January 2000.