Commentary
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” the philosopher Laozi wrote in Tao Te Ching. Yet, when it comes to travel in our modern society, it seems like there’s a thousand steps before we journey a single mile.
The state of transportation in Canada can certainly be described as one of constant frustration, aggravation, and consternation. There’s a steady stream of hurdles to bypass, hoops to jump through, and rivers to cross. And that’s before you even get on the plane!
We all knew (or sensed) there would be kinks in air travel. COVID-19 had hurt the airline industry when the capacity of most airplanes significantly dropped in 2020 and 2021. This financial decline led to staff layoffs and, in some instances, a reduced fleet. While flight and travel restrictions have mostly been eliminated, the inability of Canadian airlines to handle the onslaught of passengers for business trips and vacations has become a regular topic of conversation at the water coolers and our dinner tables….