US guests ride Air Canada and United — have your say on their tie-up by Nov 15

What’s happened.

Air Canada and United Airlines have told the Minister of Transport they want to update the joint business arrangement they have run together since 2022, Transport Canada announced on October 16. A joint business arrangement, usually called a joint venture, lets two airlines legally work together on certain routes instead of competing: under the current deal the two carriers coordinate flight schedules, ticket prices, marketing, sales and revenue management on Canada–United States flights.

Because the proposed update raises public interest questions, Transport Canada officials are running a public interest assessment. That review looks at the economic effects for Canadians and at what the deal would do to competition, and it includes consultations with air industry representatives, consumer organisations and other interested parties. Since 2018 the Minister of Transport has had the power to approve a joint venture, approve it with conditions, or refuse it. Canadians can file comments at letstalktransportation.ca from now until November 15.

Those are the routes that carry American visitors into Canadian hotel, resort and attraction markets. Who sets the price and how many seats fly is decided inside that arrangement, and the window to say so in public closes in under a month.