While President Donald Trump has since toned down his earlier rhetoric around annexing Canada and calling what was once a friendly ally “the 51st state,” Canadian travel to the U.S. remains at record lows.
The latest travel numbers released by the Canadian government and crunched by the University of Toronto show that border crossings in May 2026 were down by approximately 42% from the previous year.
Canadian airlines like Air Canada, WestJet, Flair Airlines, and Air Transat have all responded to the lower demand by significantly reducing their flight schedules into numerous U.S. cities.
Air Canada cuts eight flights to New York, Orlando and Detroit
While Canadian airlines have been tweaking their networks periodically throughout the last year, the latest to make cuts is flag carrier Air Canada.
In October 2026, a total of eight routes to various U.S. cities will be either canceled or called off from a launch that had initially been scheduled. Flights between Montréal–Trudeau International (YUL) and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International (MSP) and Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) as well as another to Toronto Pearson (YYZ) and Indianapolis International (IND) will end on Oct. 24 after initially being set to run throughout the winter.
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Service between Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale, Québec City and Orlando and Montréal and Palm Beach that had initially been set to start in October for the winter sun-seeking season will now launch only in December.
Two routes to New York’s JFK from Montréal and Toronto that were set to restart in October after a summer break have now been removed from the schedule. The reductions were first reported by aviation website Simple Flying and have not been officially confirmed by Air Canada.
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Why is Air Canada cutting more flights to the U.S. in 2026
Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s executive vice president of revenue and network planning and president of cargo, had previously told investors that that cutting U.S. routes was part of a “derisk” strategy in which the airline was trying to be “proactive and move capacity into other sectors [where] we see strength.”
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According to the refund policy stated on Air Canada’s website, travelers whose flight was canceled by the airline are entitled to be rebooked or refunded to their original method of payment.
With the end to service still months away, passengers who already booked travel beyond that date should be contacted by the airline in the coming weeks.
While Air Canada has never directly tied reductions in its U.S. network to the political situation between the two countries, the lower travel numbers ultimately trickle down into fewer sold tickets and losses in flying certain unprofitable routes.
Earlier in the year, Air Canada has also announced cancelations of routes between Toronto and Sacramento and Charleston and Vancouver and Raleigh-Durham.
A report based on flight log data by aviation analytics firm OAG Aviation showed that capacity reductions on U.S. flights for the first half of 2026 were at 19% for WestJet, 7% for Air Canada and 58% for Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines.
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