TORONTO — Experts are chiming in on Air Canada’s jet fuel assurances, as Canada’s flag carrier and other airlines ramp up efforts to calm skittish passenger about the possibility of cancelled flights and travel disruptions this summer.

As aviation analyst Rick Erickson told the CBC about Air Canada’s prospects for smooth operations in these busy months ahead: “I think they’re going to get their fuel. They’re on the A-list, and if the fuel becomes any kind of issue, the Air Canada planes will get filled first.”

Airline spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told the CBC that Air Canada is seeing strong demand for Europe and wanted to reassure its customers.

As reported yesterday, Air Canada’s latest update for Aeroplan members struck a note of reassurance amid Strait of Hormuz tensions and recent headlines about the global fuel supply. “There is no fuel shortage affecting Air Canada’s operations, including across Europe, and there is no significant impact anticipated through the summer,” said the airline in the June 2 email.

Air Canada added that it “fully expects” to operate its current summer schedule. “While global fuel markets remain dynamic, there are diversified and sophisticated fuel supplies in place.”

Widespread media coverage of sky-high airfares and fuel surcharges, not to mention warnings about jet fuel running out, has led to traveller skittishness.

At least in Europe, airlines began to lower fares in mid-April, to stimulate demand. That was just days after Europe’s airports issued their dire ‘6 weeks’ warning about jet fuel shortages this spring and summer.

Last week Lufthansa Group CCO Dieter Vranckx said there’s no signs from the aviation company’s suppliers that fuel supply will be at risk this summer at any of the Lufthansa Group’s six European hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels, and Rome), as well as abroad. Just under a quarter of jet fuel shipments destined Lufthansa Group’s Europe needs to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Vranckx added.

Earlier this spring Lufthansa Group announced it was reducing its summer flight schedule, cutting approximately 20,000 short-haul services through October as part of a broader effort to manage rising fuel costs and streamline its European network.

IATA’s jet fuel price monitor notes recent drops, however other experts told the CBC that the price swings and conflicting messages to the marketplace are confusing for consumers.

Air Canada’s transoceanic flight capacity is up close to 3% for summer 2026 vs. summer 2025, according to The Globe and Mail.

Based on data from aviation-data provider Cirium, the Globe reports that forward airline capacity for summer season flights between Canada and Britain, France, Germany and Spain, as well as destinations like Japan, were about the same in late May as just before the war started. Cirium spokesperson Mike Arnot said bookings for flights between Europe and Canada were holding their ground with last summer.

Mehrdad Pirnia, Associate Professor in Management Science and Engineering at the University of Waterloo, told the Globe: “Airlines have learned the fuel is still available from other sources but expensive and harder to find.”