Canada's airline industry regains stability, renews competition, says Collenette Canadian Press Thursday, June 13, 2002 TORONTO (CP) - Canada's troubled airline industry has entered a period of stability and reviving domestic competition following last year's devastating terrorist attacks, Transport Minister David Collenette said Thursday. While Air Canada still has nearly 80 per cent of the domestic airline market, WestJet Airlines and other smaller carriers are filling the void left by Canada 3000's collapse, Collenette said after speaking to an industry conference. "We feel that the market has come back in a very strong fashion." The minister, who has previously criticized Air Canada's recent incursions into the discount-fare segment of the market, said he wasn't concerned there's virtually no choice for business travellers who want full-fare service. "How important is it to have domestic competition in business class?" Collenette asked. Only five to seven per cent of people travel on business class or full-fare economy, and therefore the government isn't overly concerned, so long as Air Canada offers a good product for the price, he said. It's possible one of the new competitors will do what Canada 3000 did, before it went bankrupt last November, and add larger seats and enhanced service for the business market, he added. "But it's not something that overly preoccupies us," Collenette said. "What preoccupies us is to have competition for the majority of Canadians that travel." The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (RBTT) http://www.rbtt.com/ (RBTT Financial Group) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************