Nashville, Tennessee (wkrn– Amidst a tense political situation, Canadian airlines say they have cancelled flights between Canada and the city of Tennessee, which has already targeted national tariffs.
In response to the tariffs enacted by President Trump, Canadians have made US opinions clear, booed the country's national anthem in NHL and NBA games, and removed American-made products, including Tennessee whiskey, from store shelves.
Recent reports show that Canadians also avoid travelling to the US, according to the Canadian media. Cancellation of travel plans. Data from Travel Agency Flight Center Group Canada shows leisure bookings to cities that fell 40% in February last year, with one in five people canceling US trips in the past three months.
Canadian airlines are cautioned. In particular, Flair Airlines recently announced it would end its flight to Nashville.
“We can make sure Flair is not flying to Nashville this summer,” said Kim Bowie, Flair Airlines communications director. According to Flair's website, airline flights to Nashville are the only route to Tennessee.
At a meeting Monday of the Tennessee House Finance, Way and Means Committee, Tourism Development Authority Mark Ezel said it was a loss of about 18,000 seats.
“Travelers will react quickly to political news and then we see that great marketing has overcome that traveler's settlement,” said Ezel, who raised concerns about the cancellation, but is confident that the challenges will be overcome due to Tennessee's great assets.
“Do you really want to miss out on seeing Smoky Mountain,” Ezel said. “Do you really want to miss out on going to Graceland?”
Air Canada also said it would cut flights to Arizona, Florida and Las Vegas starting this month, but WestJet told the Canadian press it saw bookings have moved from the US to places like Mexico and the Caribbean. Sunwing Airlines dropped all US flights while Air Transat reduced its services to the country, the outlet reports.
Porter Airlines, another Canadian airline, said National Post “Some Canadians may see this negatively,” so they were pulling back ads for American destinations.
Amidst economic turmoil, famous plane crashes and consumer uncertainty, major US airlines such as Delta, Southwest and American Airlines have warned about declining travel demand.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
