TORONTO, May 27, 2013 /CNW/ - With its inaugural flight just over a month away, Air Canada rouge is taking a differentiated approach to leisure travel by focusing on customer service excellence through customized training and stylishly relaxed onboard apparel, both of which will contribute to a fresh, comfortable and vacation like environment for travellers.
Air Canada rouge flight attendants will receive customized service excellence training at the Disney Institute in Florida in addition to industry-leading safety and regulatory training from Air Canada at its Toronto and Montreal training centers. Their uniforms and overall look, unveiled today by six flight attendants-in-training, are comprised of stylishly relaxed, comfortable clothing, accessories and grooming that convey an approachable and friendly atmosphere onboard.
"Our inflight crews will embody the distinctive leisure personality that we want our customers to enjoy on Air Canada rouge," said Michael Friisdahl, Air Canada rouge President and Chief Executive Officer. "We're investing in the Disney Institute's service excellence training to ensure our customers' vacations truly start when they board our aircraft. By offering exceptional customer service, uncompromising safety, a relaxed inflight environment and a host of Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations benefits, we're confident Air Canada rouge will soon be the leading choice for leisure travel."
Flight attendant training and recruitment
Air Canada rouge's first 150 flight attendants will complete this week Air Canada's intensive safety training program and in mid-June will attend customer service excellence training at the Disney Institute at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida and at Air Canada rouge's base in Toronto.
Air Canada rouge is accepting resumes for its next round of hiring which will begin later this summer with the next inflight class starting training in mid-August. The airline plans to train and hire, on average, 25-40 onboard flight attendants for every aircraft it takes delivery of in the next three years. Under current plans, subject to commercial demands, Air Canada rouge will have 20 B 767-300ER aircraft and 30 Airbus 319 aircraft in its fleet during the next 3 to 5 years. Air Canada rouge flight attendants are based in Toronto for operational start up and bases at other Canadian cities will be added as its network expands. Recruitment information is available at http://aircanadarouge.com/en/job_desc.html
Uniform and look: comfortably stylish to convey a warm welcome
"Our goal was to create a unique, welcoming and fashion forward look with lasting appeal that would also be practical and comfortable," said Renee Smith-Valade, Vice President, Customer Experience. "We developed our uniform and overall look with our partners in record time - about four months -- with close attention to cost and making every effort to engage with Canadian designers for an end result that reflects our relaxed, fun, holiday atmosphere onboard." High resolution color photos of the uniforms are available at: www.aircanada.com/en/about/media/rouge/index.html
Many partners were involved in the design, delivery and ongoing production of the new uniforms. The uniform concept was developed by Montreal's VF Imagewear incorporating Air Canada rouge's signature colours of burgundy and slate with bright accent colors to create a fresh, simple and relaxed style in keeping with the vacation atmosphere onboard. Signature custom elements such as Fluevog shoes, designer neckwear, luggage and L'Oreal/Redken beauty and grooming make for a distinctly on-trend and fresh Air Canada rouge look.
High res photos and additional background information can be found here:
https://www.yousendit.com/download/WFJVdFdVdkdUMFBtcXRVag
What's next in Air Canada rouge's Countdown to Takeoff?
Air Canada rouge's next Countdown to Takeoff milestone in mid-June will be a hands-on look at the onboard experience that the airline's customers will enjoy including cabin interiors and seating, wireless streaming inflight entertainment and menu offerings.
About Air Canada rouge
Air Canada rouge is Air Canada's new leisure airline, part of the new Air Canada Leisure Group, along with Air Canada Vacations. Air Canada rouge will operate a fleet of Boeing 767-300ER and Airbus 319 aircraft sporting an attractive new livery and interior, designed to reflect the airline's relaxed friendly ambience. Initially flights will operate from Toronto and Montreal to vacation spots in Europe and the Caribbean. Air Canada rouge is the only leisure airline that offers a full network of connecting flights, Aeroplan Miles with every flight as well as redemption, and Air Canada Vacations package holidays or flight-only options. With all of these customer benefits, Air Canada rouge will be leading the way in leisure travel. Vacation ahead with Air Canada rouge. For more information visit: http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/media/rouge/index.html
About Air Canada Vacations
Air Canada Vacations is a leading Canadian tour operator offering a wide assortment of leisure travel packages to destinations around the world. A repeat recipient of the Consumer's Choice Award for Best Travel Wholesaler, Air Canada Vacations services over 100 destinations in the Caribbean, Central & South America, Asia, Europe, and in the U.S. And now, Air Canada Vacations will feature Air Canada rouge on several of its top vacation routes. For more information, visit www.aircanadavacations.com
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and in 2011 served more than 33 million customers.
Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 Canadian cities, 56 destinations in the United States and 63 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,356 destinations in 193 countries. In 2012, Air Canada was ranked Best International Airline in North America in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax.
Image with caption: "Join the team! Air Canada rouge will soon graduate its first 150 flight attendants and will hire, on average, another 25-40 flight attendants every month over the next three years as the airline quickly grows. Its stylishly relaxed look created in partnership with Canadian designers, the many benefits it offers as part of the Air Canada family and its promise of leading onboard customer service signal a whole new kind of vacation travel experience. (CNW Group/Air Canada rouge)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130527_C2289_PHOTO_EN_27066.jpg
Image with caption: "Air Canada rouge flight attendants introduce the new onboard apparel they will take to the skies starting on July 1st. The reveal took place at the newly opened John Fluevog Shoes flagship store in Toronto's historic Distillery District on Monday, May 27. (CNW Group/Air Canada rouge)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130527_C2289_PHOTO_EN_27068.jpg
Image with caption: "Air Canada rouge flight attendants unveil the new airline's first-ever in-flight look, which includes signature pieces from Canadian designers such as John Fluevog, who created their custom shoes, and Mari C Design who designed the scarves and ties. Maybelline New York's lead makeup artist Grace Lee developed the fresh and approachable beauty look while Ontario's Cobmex Apparel is behind the women's sweater sets and the men's cardigans. (CNW Group/Air Canada rouge)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130527_C2289_PHOTO_EN_27070.jpg
PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2013/05/27/20130527_C2289_DOC_EN_27072.pdf
SOURCE: Air Canada rouge
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