Air Canada and United Airlines announced that, through their enhanced transborder joint business agreement, they will offer industry leading capacity and new routes between Canada and the U.S. for summer 2023 – including a new United-operated flight between Washington-Dulles and Calgary and a new Air Canada-operated flight between Washington-Dulles and Vancouver. The carriers have collaboratively optimized their schedules, subject to applicable government and regulatory conditions, and added more flights to provide customers greater connectivity and more flexible flight times, with over 80 transborder codeshare routes and more than 260 daily flights.

New Non-stop Flights Between Vancouver, Calgary and Washington

New, non-stop service between Vancouver and Washington-Dulles will begin June 1 and will be operated with an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8. United will also introduce a new, non-stop flight between Calgary and Washington-Dulles on June 2 on an Airbus 319. Air Canada and United will codeshare on these flights, allowing Aeroplan or MileagePlus® members to accumulate and redeem miles. Eligible customers and loyalty plan members will also be able to enjoy benefits including priority check-in, lounge access, priority boarding and other benefits where available.

Transborder Schedule

The two carriers will operate more than 260 daily transborder departures in summer 2023, about a 20 percent increase in schedule capacity compared to summer 2022. The schedule will include up to 120 daily departures between the airlines' hub markets, an increase from 101 in summer 2021. Flights will be timed to offer optimized connections at both Air Canada and United's hubs and line stations.

Shuttle-Style Schedule

The coordinated schedule will enable both carriers to offer shuttle-style hourly service throughout the day between key Air Canada and United hubs. The airlines will offer 29 daily flights with complementary timings between Toronto and New York/Newark and Chicago, and 11 daily flights between Vancouver and San Francisco.

Enhanced Western Canada Network to the U.S.

The airlines' summer schedule also provides increased transborder service between the U.S. and Western Canada. There will be nine daily flights between Vancouver and New York/Newark, Houston and Chicago, and seven flights daily between Los Angeles and Vancouver. A second daily flight will be added between Calgary and both Chicago and Houston, and a second daily flight will also be added from Edmonton to Denver.

Customer Experience

Air Canada and United will offer business class seats on every flight between their respective hubs. All eligible customers will be able to enjoy Air Canada's Maple Leaf Lounges and United's lounges, as well as the benefits of the carriers' Aeroplan and MileagePlus® loyalty programs. Additionally, customers will have a wider range of flight options with more than 80 transborder codeshare routes. Overall, customers will be able to connect to over 100 codeshare destinations in the U.S. and 25 of the most popular cities in Canada.

Building on a Long-Standing Partnership

In July 2022, Air Canada and United announced a joint business agreement for the Canada-U.S. transborder market, building on their long-standing partnership that will give more flight options and better flight schedules to customers traveling between the two countries (coordination subject to regulatory conditions). Air Canada and United are also founding members of Star Alliance and a transatlantic joint business agreement with the Lufthansa Group.

In 2019, the U.S.-Canada transborder market was the second largest international passenger air transportation market in the world and the largest international market for both Canada and the U.S., as measured by seats.