From “tariffic” deals to muted U.S. marketing: Canadian airlines react to trade war

The travel industry is being taken on a wild ride as U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods – and subsequent pauses – rattle the demand for U.S. travel and consumer confidence in general.

As previously reported, Canadians are rethinking where they spend their hard-earned dollars amid growing calls to “buy Canadian,” requests from politicians to cancel trips to the U.S., and the weak loonie.

In a recent Blue Cross study, nearly half of Canadians (47 per cent) surveyed said they were less likely to visit the United States in the next 12 months with Trump in office.

Anecdotal evidence from travel advisors shows that some Canadians are, indeed, cancelling their U.S. vacations. 

Even Flight Centre Travel Group Canada, this week, said its leisure bookings to U.S. cities dropped 40 per cent in February from the same month in 2024, saying that one in five customers cancelled their trips to the U.S. over the past three months.

“Nothing can trump this deal"

Canadian airlines are now adjusting their marketing and network strategies to make sense of it all.

Ultra low-cost carrier Flair Airlines hasn’t held back in trying to cash in on Trump’s tariff threats, recently holding a two-day flash sale — called “Tariffic Flight Deals” — earlier this week, offering 25 per cent off domestic flights, and routes between Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean (places that are expected to benefit from all the U.S. cancellations).

READ MORE: Trump's 25% tariffs spark recession fears; travel industry pivots to limit impact

“Nothing can trump this deal,” Flair wrote on its social media, promoting the limited-time sale, which ended Wednesday night.

Canada’s other major airlines also have ongoing offers, but they’re not themed around tariffs or Donald Trump.

Porter halts U.S. marketing

As PAX first reported, Porter Airlines, which flies to 16 U.S. destinations, has been reducing its service south of the border, cutting flights by eight per cent, according to recent data from Cirium.

But Porter spokesperson Brad Cicero said this adjustment isn’t a direct response to the situation with the U.S., telling PAX that the eight per cent adjustment can be better understood by noting the airline’s overall growth and increase in the U.S., which amounts to 150 per cent year-over-year.

READ MORE: Air Transat & Porter downplay recent reductions to U.S. capacity amid tariff threats

Schedules are filed months in advance “and always have near-term adjustments,” Cicero clarified, calling eight per cent “a modest, typical change in light of this growth.”

A new report from Skift, however, reveals that Porter has had to lower its fares to keep bookings steady. (Which is “tariffic” for keen travellers, if we’re staying on theme).

Skift interviewed Porter Airlines’ President Kevin Jackson, who said he anticipates that Porter’s overall bookings may be lower than expected in 2025 due to rising tensions.  

Consumers can expect to see one shift at Porter – and that’s scaled-down U.S. marketing.

According to Skift's story, Porter has temporarily halted all marketing efforts promoting travel to the U.S. following feedback from Canadian consumers that advertising U.S.-bound trips, during the tariff conflict, would be tone-deaf.

“Canadian consumers have made it clear to us that they don't believe that we should be promoting travel to the United States,” Jackson told the outlet. 

READ MORE: As Canadians rethink U.S. travel, industry pros pivot to mitigate potential losses

To that end, Jackson noted that it’s still too early to make any drastic changes, saying that most customers are in “wait-and-see” mode, instead of making definite changes to their travel choices.

Air Transat has also reduced capacity to the U.S. by 10 per cent compared to what was planned at the start of 2025, Cirium’s data shows.

But the airline operates just a handful of U.S. flights to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Responding to PAX’s last request for comment, the airline said these adjustments are normal.

“We have not observed any significant changes in our customers' travel habits to the United States,” wrote spokesperson Bernard Côté in an email to PAX on Feb. 28. “Despite a slight slowdown at the beginning of the month, demand appears to be returning to normal levels. We continuously adjust our capacity across all our destinations, including the South and Europe, based on demand fluctuations and our projections.”

Air Canada makes tweaks  

Air Canada, too, is monitoring shifting market dynamics.

During a Q4/2024 earnings call last month, Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network Planning and President of Cargo Mark Galardo said the airline will reduce capacity on select routes to Florida, Las Vegas, and Arizona starting in March, citing the ongoing Canada-U.S. tariff dispute and the weak Canadian dollar.

Galardo said if Air Canada does see a significant drop on the U.S. side, it will offset it with “typical changes,” such as redeploying capacity into its sun markets, “where we see a lot of demand [and] interest right now.”

PAX has contacted Air Canada to inquire about any new adjustments it has made amid the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.

WestJet to fly “where there’s demand”

WestJet has been a little more direct about the impact of Trump’s presidency and tariff talk. Last month, the Calgary-based airline said demand for U.S. travel had been “soft” ever since the notion of a possible trade war began boiling between Canada and its biggest trading partner.

“What we have seen, since the tariff announcements, is that our sales from Canada into the U.S. have actually dropped very significantly,” said CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech, as reported by CTV News.

The demand to fly to the U.S. has dropped by about 25 per cent, von Hoensbroech noted, adding the exchange rate also likely has something do with the slump.

“We are watching and we don’t know how sustainable this is,” he said.

PAX reached out to WestJet yesterday for an update and spokesperson Julia Kaiser said the airline is seeing a shift in bookings from the U.S. to other sun destinations, such as Mexico and the Caribbean among Canadian travellers.

“The airline remains focused on knowing where people want to go, and we will continue to fly where there is demand,” Kaiser told PAX.

She added that “reciprocal visitation from both Canadian and U.S. tourists is important for the tourism industry, as it drives economic stimulus on both sides of the border.”

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