Business·Marketplace
CBC’s Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need from the week.
Consumer and health news you need from the week
Jenny Cowley · CBC News
· Posted: Jan 07, 2024 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: January 7
Air Canada planes sit on the tarmac at Pearson International Airport in Toronto in 2021. The carrier landed 63 per cent of flights on time in 2023, placing last among North America’s 10 largest airlines, according to an aviation analytics firm. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)Miss something this week? Don’t panic. CBC’s Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need.
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Air Canada lands last in ranking of on-time flights for North American airlines
Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau has acknowledged the airline’s low ranking in on-time flights, saying in August that the carrier’s operations failed to meet ‘expected levels.’ (Bloomberg)Air Canada notched the worst on-time performance among 10 large airlines in North America in 2023, according to a new report.
The country’s biggest carrier landed 63 per cent of its flights on time last year, placing it last among the continent’s 10 largest airlines, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
That means roughly 140,000 planes rolled up to the gate more than 15 minutes after scheduled arrival.
The score was five percentage points below the second- and third-lowest carriers, JetBlue Airways and Frontier Airlines, respectively.
Canada’s other major airline, WestJet, placed seventh in North America with a score of 69 per cent.
The best results came from Delta Air Lines, which ranked first at 85 per cent, followed by Alaska Airlines at 82 per cent.
Air Canada said the rankings reflect the challenges that affected carriers in Canada through the year.
“However, our operation has been consistently improving so that by year-end our monthly on-time performance showed a double-digit improvement over July, a significant increase,” a spokesperson for Air Canada told CBC News in a statement, which also said that the company’s focus remains on “further raising” on-time performance in 2024. Read More
Attention, Rogers customers: Some of your phone plans are about to be more expensive
A drone shot of Rogers Communications headquarters in Toronto in 2021. Some Rogers customers will see an increase in the cost of their wireless phone plans in the coming weeks, the company confirmed to CBC News on Wednesday. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)Rogers Communications will increase the cost of some of its plans in the coming weeks, the company confirmed to CBC News on Wednesday.
Bell customers aren’t out of the woods, either. Bell is reportedly increasing some of its existing wireless phone plan prices in February, according to a report by the tech news outlet MobileSyrup.
The Rogers price hike will impact some customers’ wireless phone plans and internet plans, including customers of its subsidiary Fido, a spokesperson told CBC News.
The spokesperson said while many customers will see a price hike of under $7, the increases could be as high as $9 per month, depending on the customer’s plan or bundle. The hikes apply only to customers who are not on contract.
Customers who have been notified by Rogers will start seeing the new price applied to bills issued after Jan. 17.
“We are committed to delivering mobile and residential services with the highest standard of quality and reliability to bring our customers the best network experience,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Bell did not respond to a request for comment. Read more
Canada’s highest-paid CEOs make 246 times more than the average worker, report says
The 100 best-paid CEOs in Canada now make 246 times what the typical worker earns, according to a new report. That number breaks last year’s record of 243. (Shutterstock)It was another record-breaking year for Canada’s richest CEOs.
In one work day, and less than a half hour into the new year — 27 minutes to be exact — Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs had already earned the average worker’s annual salary, according to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
It translates to roughly $60,600 by 9:27 a.m. on Jan. 2, if you include Monday as a paid holiday, according to the report.
The CCPA, an Ottawa-based think-tank that focuses on social, economic and environmental issues, found that the 100 best-paid CEOs in Canada now make 246 times what the typical worker earns. That number breaks last year’s record of 243.
“The 100 CEOs, who are overwhelmingly male, got paid an average of $14.9 million in 2022. This amount surpasses their previously record-breaking pay of $14.3 million in 2021 and sets a new all-time high in our data series,” said David Macdonald, a senior economist at the CCPA and the report’s author.
Like last year’s report, part of the explanation for the large increases in CEO pay is linked to inflation, Macdonald said.
“This is largely a story about inflation … CEOs are paid primarily through bonuses, and those bonuses are based on things like revenue and profits. When revenue and profit goes through the roof due to inflation, bonuses go through the roof.”
Macdonald said despite this, salaries for average workers are often not keeping up with inflation.
“In 2022, the average worker in Canada got an average pay raise of $1,800, or three per cent. But prices went up by 6.8 per cent in 2022, meaning workers took a real pay cut of almost four per cent compared to 2021.” Read more
What else is going on?What does 2024 have in store for the Canadian economy?
CBC’s Peter Armstrong breaks it down.
BlendJet is recalling millions of blenders over fire hazards and breaking blades.
The recall includes 117,000 models sold in Canada.
There’s a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Manitoba over cantaloupe tainted with salmonella.
Seven people in Canada have died from cantaloupe-linked salmonella and there have been 164 laboratory-confirmed cases in eight provinces.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jenny Cowley is an investigative journalist in Toronto. She has previously reported for CBC in Nova Scotia. You can reach her at marketplace@cbc.ca.
