Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge Accessibility Plan and Feedback Process 2026 to 2029

Commitment to Accessibility

Our Mission

Air Canada is the largest provider of passenger air travel services in Canada, offering connections within Canada and from Canada to destinations worldwide. Our mission is to connect Canada and the world.

We are committed to high-quality customer service and a safe, positive and consistent flight experience that is equitable, barrier-free and people-centred. As Canada’s flag carrier, we recognize our role in advancing accessibility by ensuring customer independence and support. Becoming more accessible also positions us to better serve the eight million Canadians with disabilities and 1.3 billion people with disabilities globally, along with their travel companions.

We are committed to the inclusion of employees and customers with disabilities and their support networks. We aim to provide accessible services that promote dignity, choice and independence by removing barriers and ensuring an equitable and enjoyable travel experience. For our employees, we aim to build a workplace where employees with disabilities experience accessibility, respect and belonging at every stage of their workplace journey to support them to fully contribute, grow and lead.

We prepared this plan to meet and exceed the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act, Canada Transportation Act and related regulations. We will follow these laws and the lived experience of people with disabilities as we implement our plan.

Our Commitments

As a partner of people with disabilities, we make the following commitments:

• Consult people with disabilities and accessibility organizations, with a view to creating an enjoyable travel experience for people with disabilities, whether in services or infrastructure, and to providing fulfilling and equitable employment experiences in the workplace.
• Develop and enhance accessibility features, policies and processes that broaden travel and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
• Train our employees and provide them with tools to encourage co-operation, lift barriers and implement accommodations for our customers and our employees.
• Promote a culture of respect and dignity in all our employees’ interactions with one another and with our customers and increase the representation of people with disabilities within our workforce.
• Collaborate with Canadian and international organizations and airport authorities to ensure the perspectives and needs of people with disabilities are considered in the workplace and throughout customer travel experiences.

These commitments reinforce our dedication to safe, inclusive and accessible air travel for all customers and accessible employment for all employees.

What this Accessibility Plan Covers

The current plan addresses:

• Customer accessibility for all flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express. Air Canada Express currently includes flights operated by Jazz Aviation LP and PAL Airlines.
• Employee accessibility for all employees of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge.

Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines have published their own accessibility plans but refer to the Air Canada Accessibility Plan and Progress Reports in relation to Air Canada customers.

Air Travel Partnerships

Air travel requires close collaboration with airport authorities, ground handlers, customs and security agencies, aircraft manufacturers and airline partners. National and international regulations govern air travel and require global co-operation. Our employees must also work in this ecosystem, collaborating with multiple partners, with each organization playing a critical role in this complex global system. To make meaningful accessibility improvements and deliver dignified, safe air travel, Air Canada works closely with these partners.

The connection to community groups that support people with disabilities is also important.

Some of or closest partners are Canadian airport authorities. Since 2023, we have focused on strengthening our partnerships with large and medium sized Canadian airports and are continuing to create relationships with smaller airports across Canada.

Accessibility Regulations

Air Canada is subject to Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (SOR/2019-244).

Continuous Learning

Consistency is key for people with disabilities, yet air travel, regardless of airline, often does not consistently provide dignity, independence and choice. Similarly, we know that our workplaces are not fully accessible and many employees may not feel comfortable sharing that they have a disability or requesting necessary accommodations.

We have made progress, but more changes are still needed. Through feedback, consultations, research and complaints, it is clear that barriers still exist. Just as importantly, we have learned what has gone well so that we can leverage these strengths.

This plan acknowledges those gaps and shares some of what we know about the experience of customers and employees with disabilities today. It reflects our responsibility to do better, to learn from where we have fallen short and to take meaningful, measurable action to improve how people with disabilities experience our services, our aircraft, our workplaces and our support.

To get additional meaningful and concrete feedback on travel experiences and possible improvements to accessibility services, we consulted people with disabilities and diverse stakeholders in preparing this plan. Those activities are summarized in the Consultations Section.

Survey of Air Canada Customers

In addition to ongoing consultation, in spring 2026, we surveyed customers who had travelled with Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express in the past 12 months, who are a person with a disability or care for a person with a disability and had requested assistance or accessibility services on their most recent trip. Overall satisfaction is trending upward compared to earlier periods, indicating steady improvement — a good sign.

When they had positive experiences, customers with disabilities most often pointed to the empathy and care of our frontline employees. People also often talked about the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program as reducing the need to explain non-visible disabilities.

At the same time, customers report challenges, including inconsistent employee knowledge, communication breakdowns and wait times for wheelchair assistance. Areas needing improvement were reported primarily by neurodivergent customers, customers with dexterity-related needs and customers who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing.

Surveys of Employees with Disabilities

Data about Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge employees provides insights into how employees with disabilities experience the organization. It highlights opportunities to improve understanding and inclusion.

As of March 31, 2026, voluntary self-identification data indicate that approximately 2.3 per cent of Canadian-based Air Canada employees identify as a person with a disability. Results from broader employee surveys suggest that the number of employees with a disability or a disability-related experience is closer to 15 per cent. This difference reflects the fact that disability is not always visible or formally disclosed. Also, different methods capture different aspects of the employee experience.

A pulse survey explored themes related to trust, inclusion and the work environment. Questions focused on:

• Trust within teams and with managers.
• Openness and honesty in organizational communication.
• Perceptions of fairness and inclusion.
• Work conditions.
• Access to information and training.

Study of Air Travel and People with Disabilities

In spring 2026, we conducted a study that examined the travel experiences of Canadians living with disabilities, including those who avoid air travel. The findings confirm that the disability community represents a significant and valuable travel market, with clear opportunities to build trust, loyalty and long-term engagement through accessible design and communication. It evaluated the full journey (from booking to post-travel), identifying strengths, gaps, barriers and opportunities to improve accessibility.

Overall, customers reported looking for one overarching characteristic in their journey: knowing what to expect at every stage. Many travellers with disabilities reported unclear or hard-to-find information about accessibility. Travellers frequently reported receiving conflicting information and uneven service from employees.

The study highlights that increasing awareness and ease of accessibility services is critical. Many travellers do not request support because they don’t know it exists. Making these options more visible would increase use and improve satisfaction.

University of Laval Research on Airport Experiences

In late 2023 and 2024, we participated in an Accessibility Standards Canada-funded research project to understand accessibility barriers and “enablers” across airports. The study, which is not yet completed, aims to produce evidence-based accessibility recommendations for standards for Canadian airport standards. The research team’s approach included “go-along” interviews with people with lived experience from diverse backgrounds and focused on understanding what works, what doesn’t and what needs to change.

Key preliminary takeaways from the study include:

• Co-ordination and responsibilities across the customer journey can be unclear among organizations (e.g., airline, airport, security and customs), which can create inconsistent support and handoffs.
• Wayfinding and signage are common barriers, making it harder for customers to understand where to go and what to do next.
• Sensory overload, through noise and crowding, is a common challenge. Participants reported friction in processing information and moving through each step.

Feedback Received

We received comments through our feedback process largely related to customer accessibility. Most feedback focused on:

• Built environment challenges at large airports.
• Consistency of assistance provided among airports around the world.
• Timeliness of assistance provided during busy times.
• Employee awareness and understanding of disability.
• Accommodations for seating requirements on board an aircraft.

In addition to feedback, we also receive commendations from customers regarding their travel experience. These commendations are shared with our employees and their managers to recognize their efforts and successes.

From our employees, the most common feedback we received was questions about workplace accommodations and resources for employees with disabilities. Most frequently:

• Resources available following the return-to-work process after a leave of absence.
• Workplace support for neurodivergent employees who disclose a hidden disability.
• Clarification of the workplace accommodation process and supportive documentation necessary to review requests.

Consultations

The development of this plan was guided by the principle of "Nothing about us, without us." We conducted robust, accessible consultations that were designed to hold space for people with lived experience to share what works and what needs to change.

Our accessibility partners, O’Hara Aging + Accessibility and Left Turn Right Turn Ltd., facilitated focus groups with customers, employees, disability organizations, advocacy partners and members of the public. This approach protected the anonymity of participants and enabled more open and candid input.

Each session was designed to have accessibility measures in place. We also asked participants if other accessibility supports would be helpful. We offered discussions in Canada’s official languages (English and French) and provided accommodations based on participants' requirements.

Our accessibility partners guided the discussion to make sure everyone had an opportunity to contribute. We offered compensation to participants who were not Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge employees, in recognition of their expertise and lived experience.

Focus Groups with Disability Organizations

We engaged external organizations led by and for people with disabilities to bring community expertise and lived experience into the plan's development. Our approach identified barriers, validated priorities and informed practical actions to improve accessibility throughout the travel journey.

We held 11 virtual sessions in February and March 2026, and we shared accessible materials in advance. Sessions included a brief overview of Air Canada, followed by a facilitated discussion on experiences and priorities. Participants were asked:

• What are the main barriers people in your community face in air travel?
• What changes would improve people's independence, dignity and choice in air travel?
• What information or communication would make travelling with Air Canada clearer and less stressful?

Who we engaged

The organizations that participated represented a broad range of perspectives, including:

• ADHD Canada
• Arthritis Consumer Experts
• Autism Canada
• Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
• Canadian Association of the Deaf
• Canadian National Institute for the Blind
• Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec, a consolidation of community organizations working for disabled people in Quebec
• Fibromyalgia Association of Canada
• HelpAge Canada
• Independent Living Canada
• Inclusion Canada
• Indigenous Disability Canada
• Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides
• Little People of Canada
• MS Society of Canada
• Migraine Canada
• Mood Disorders Society of Canada
• National Educational Association of Disabled Students
• Parkinson Canada
• Realize Canada
• Rick Hansen Foundation
• The War Amps

What we heard

Participants shared barriers and changes that would improve independence and autonomy, as well as the information or communication needed to travel with greater confidence and enjoyment. Across communities, they identified recurring barriers from booking through arrival:

1. Travel is unpredictable and exhausting, especially when supports are inconsistent.

• Support varies across aircraft, individual employees and journeys, making planning and independent travel difficult.
• Assistance can be delayed or missing, and many travellers who request assistance are sometimes offered irrelevant support (e.g., mobility assistance for people who are d/Deaf).
• Continuity of support across connections and during disruptions is essential. There is a need for clear assistance and advice when support delays contribute to missed connections.

2. Loss of autonomy and independence are central concerns.

• Privacy and independence concerns were common, including being singled out or feeling treated like baggage.
• Repeatedly having to explain or “prove” needs (sometimes multiple times in one trip) was described as demeaning. Many wanted consistent, respectful support and the same care and priority that elite travellers receive.
• Cost and extra fees can influence access. This includes the cost of air travel in general, as well as fees for extra seats on international flights, baggage fees and doctors' involvement in medical forms.

3. Information and communication are often unclear, scattered or inaccessible.

• Information about supports, seating and accommodations can be hard to find and inconsistent.
• Accessibility requests made at booking are not always in place at check-in. Information can be inconsistent when flights are delayed or disrupted. Updates and emergency messages are not always accessible and easy to understand.

4. Digital tools and communication channels do not work equally for everyone.

• App and digital updates can break accessibility features.
• There is a need for more than one way to get support, including support for people who use relay or video interpreting services, and for a clear way to reach a real person when needed.

5. Physical environments and equipment often do not fit real bodies or needs.

• Seats, leg room and seat belts do not accommodate all bodies.
• Aisle seats, lavatories and reachable controls/space are essential for many but are not consistently available or usable. Participants also raised barriers in airline spaces (e.g., lounges, where applicable) and in wayfinding and service information.
• Wheelchair damage and unsafe transfers are serious risks with lasting consequences.

6. Training, awareness and accountability make a significant difference.

• Inconsistent training across roles creates barriers. Participants valued training led by people with lived experience.
• Clear accountability and repair processes are needed when mobility aids are damaged.
• Knowledgeable, respectful and proactive employees make a significant difference.

7. Representation and participation matter.

• Stronger disability representation and visibility were identified as important, with trust shaped by broader systemic and institutional factors.
• Meaningful and transparent engagement, must be matched with follow-through to build trust.

Consultations with Employees with Disabilities

We also consulted employees with disabilities across the country about their experiences of accessibility through focus group sessions and an online survey. Employees from both Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge were invited to participate in all consultation activities.

Focus Groups

We hosted three virtual focus groups for employees across Canada in March 2026. Sessions began with a brief overview of the Accessible Canada Act and the sharing of some recent accessibility achievements.

We spent the rest of the session facilitating discussion on the following five topics:

• How would you describe the culture at Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge as it relates to accessibility?
• Have you noticed improvements in the accessibility of your workplace over the last year?
• What barriers to accessibility do you face in your workplace?
• What could Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge do to remove or reduce those barriers?
• Do you have any other feedback about accessibility at Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge?

Online Survey

In March 2026, we launched an online survey available to Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge employees across Canada. It remained open for three weeks and was promoted regularly through our internal newsletters. The survey was anonymous, and we did not collect any identifying information from employees, focusing on ranked-choice questions that we can use consistently year to year. The survey had 41 questions on various topics such as:

• Air Canada’s workplace accessibility culture
• hiring and onboarding processes
• experiences with advancement and retention
• accommodations policy and procedures
• workplace accessibility

What We Heard

The most prominent themes that emerged from our employee consultations included:

1. Understanding of accommodation processes and accessibility-related resources is inconsistent.
   • The accommodations process contains barriers that can delay implementation.
   • The accommodations process can feel confusing, especially when it involves multiple departments or contacts.
   • The accommodations process can be challenging for people with long-term or lifelong disabilities.
2. Barriers remain in office environments.
   • Barriers to accessibility and productivity in our offices exist. The most common barriers described were related to ambient noise in open-concept environments, limited control over overhead lighting and challenges focusing in shared workspaces.
   • Washrooms in workplaces may lack accessibility features like automatic door openers and accessible stalls.
3. Stigma and challenges related to work culture.
   • Feelings that it is harder for employees with disabilities to be promoted exist. Concerns include measuring productivity statistics and perceptions of productivity if an employee has an accommodation.
   • Offensive comments about people with disabilities made by others in their workplaces exist.
   • Reasons for collecting anonymous self-identification data about employees’ disability status are not always clear.
4. Desire for training and skill building related to accessibility.
   • A desire to learn more about best practices in accessibility, both generally and as it relates to their specific jobs, exists.
   • Teams would benefit from more education about the experiences of people with diverse disability experiences, as it would build empathy and connection and help dispel potential stigma against employees with disabilities.

Air Canada’s Accessibility Advisory Committee

Air Canada’s Accessibility Advisory CommitteeExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines and/or language preferences. was created in December 2023 to provide input and to guide us toward greater accessibility. As of March 2026, the Committee expanded to 10 people with diverse disabilities and accessibility requirements. The Committee meets quarterly and is consulted on new and ongoing accessibility initiatives.

The Committee met in fall 2025 to share ideas on what should be included in the new plan. These early conversations pointed to consistent themes including:

• Better wayfinding and navigation supports including new technologies to help customers who are blind or partially sighted locate key onboard areas, like lavatories.
• Virtual familiarization tools, like short videos showing airports and aircraft, to help families and first-time travellers.
• Focus on predictable and consistent experiences and services, so customers know what to expect and do not have to rely on last-minute assistance.
• Barriers in technology, like screen reader compatibility or in-flight entertainment user experience, reinforce the need to continue designing accessibility from the start.
• Importance of inclusive hiring, disability-confident workplaces, practical training and clear communication about accessibility improvements.
• Value of working closely with disability organizations and suppliers, so progress is shared, measured and sustainable over time.

In early 2026, the Committee met over two days to discuss the upcoming plan, their priorities and a list of potential commitments to consider. They were asked to share comments on any area of interest and to highlight their top priorities. Their discussion informed this plan and will continue to inform its implementation.

Overall, the Committee said it felt the plan was headed in the right direction and was confident that the commitments shared would significantly improve our accessibility. They identified the following priorities:

• Increasing the number of employees with disabilities at Air Canada to make the experience more accessible for everyone.
• Improving emergency evacuation plans that support employees with disabilities, especially planning for employees with new disabilities.
• Improving disability etiquette, understanding, empathy and communication of Air Canada employees, including:
  • Making sure that employees speak directly to a person with a disability, not to their support person.
  • Growing employee knowledge about how to handle a wheelchair.
  • Not making assumptions about what support a person needs.
• Improving captions or transcription of announcements at airports.
• Improving communication throughout the travel journey, including streamlining the technology and minimizing having to repeat information.

Other Lived Experience Focus Group

In May 2026, we held a focus group with Canadians with disabilities representing a range of geographic locations, ages and personal and professional backgrounds. We asked them to review some sections of this plan. They provided valuable feedback on their impressions of our plan and suggested ways we could tailor the draft to communicate in a more accessible way.

Key takeaways from the focus group included:

• Participants suggested that we provide more details about our lived experience consultation activities and the feedback we received.
• Participants emphasized how helpful visual elements are in breaking up long documents and in making them more accessible to readers.
• A participant who is d/Deaf recommended that we include a recording of this plan in sign language when we publish it on our website.
• A participant suggested that we include a link to our Accessible Travel page within the plan itself.

We have incorporated this feedback into our finalized plan.

General

Alternate Format(s)

Air Canada is committed to ensuring this plan and feedback process are available in formats that meet the diverse requirements of our customers and employees. You can request this plan or a description of our feedback process in alternative formats, such as large print, Braille, audio or an accessible electronic format.

We will provide alternate formats as soon as reasonably possible and within the timelines required under the Accessible Canada Act and Canadian Transportation Act accessibility regulations.

• Print – not more than 15 days after the day that the request is received.
• Large print – not more than 15 days after the day that the request is received.
• Braille – not more than 45 days after the day that the request is received.
• Audio format – not more than 45 days after the day that the request is received.
• Electronic format that is compatible with adaptive technology and that is intended to assist persons with disabilities – not more than 15 days after the day that the request is received.

If you require an alternate format, please contact us using any of the methods listed in the Contact Information section.

Feedback Process

We welcome feedback on accessibility, including suggestions for this plan. If you need an alternative format for our plan or a description of our feedback process, please contact us.

You can contact us via email, phone or mail using any of the options listed under Contact Information in this plan. Additionally, you can submit feedback via our website's online form.

We will acknowledge your feedback through the same method you used to contact us. You also have the option to submit your feedback anonymously.

The Director of Customer Accessibility and the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Employee Accessibility are designated to receive, review and keep a record of feedback on behalf of Air Canada. We may act on your feedback during this plan or use it to inform future plans, which we develop and publish every three years.

Contact Information

Online form: Accessibility plan feedback form

Email: accessibility-accessibilite@aircanada.ca

Phone: 1-888-422-2408 (TTY and video relay available)

Mail:

Director, Customer Accessibility
525 rue Viger
Montréal, Quebec
H2Z 1G6

Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Employee Accessibility
7373 Cote-Vertu Blvd. West
Ville Saint-Laurent, Quebec
H4S 1Z3
ZIP 1261

More Information

Through our wide range of accessibility services, we're committed to offering a seamless travel experience for all our customers. If you have questions about accessibility services for upcoming travel, you can refer to the Accessibility Services page on our website. This page includes information on how to contact us by phone or email to plan your trip.

Focus Areas of Accessibility

This section outlines Air Canada’s approach to identifying, removing and preventing accessibility barriers. It is organized around the seven key focus areas set out in the Accessible Canada Act and provides an overview of our work in each area.

For each focus area, we summarize achievements to date, describe the barriers we have identified and outline planned commitments to drive ongoing improvement. Together, these focus areas address accessibility considerations across Air Canada’s policies, processes, services and facilities.

Governance and Culture

We have included governance and culture as an additional focus area beyond those required by the Accessible Canada Act as they are the foundation for all other changes. Our first three-year accessibility plan helped us deepen our understanding of what’s working, what’s not and where we need to focus.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Accessibility Advisory Committee: We updated the Committee by expanding membership, with a wider range of lived experience of disability and professional expertise. We also formalized its structure to clarify the mandate and responsibilities. These improvements help ensure diverse perspectives shape our priorities and guide our efforts on improving accessibility.
• Tracking Progress: We implemented dashboards to track progress, spot trends and take action based on what the data shows. For example, we now track mobility aid handling performance to identify issues early and improve. We're also monitoring and tracking internal progress across the organization to support our accessibility progress reporting.
• Air Canada Foundation: We continued to align the Air Canada Foundation's partnerships with accessibility priorities, supporting initiatives that advance inclusion and remove barriers.
• Partnerships: We partnered with disability organizations, research institutes and community groups to learn from customers’ real experiences, support innovation and promote accessible travel.
• Employee Resource Group: We continued to support the expansion and priorities of the Air Canada employee resource group dedicated to disability inclusion.
• Accommodation Roles and Responsibilities: We strengthened and clarified roles and responsibilities related to employee accommodations. The stakeholders responsible for employee accommodations (unions and corporate managers) better understand their respective roles.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Leadership Accountability and Cross-Functional Co-ordination: Accessibility knowledge and decision‑making can be siloed across teams, making it harder to share best practices and co-ordinate efforts.
• Accountability Across a Complex Organization: Accessibility responsibilities and decision-making are distributed across many teams, roles and systems. This can make ownership, tracking progress and understanding root causes challenging.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving Accessibility for Customers and Employees

In the near term, we plan to:

• Implement changes in how progress is tracked and reported on to strengthen internal accountability.
• Continue strengthening and consulting the revitalized Accessibility Advisory Committee, including having new members join in 2027.
• Strengthen the Accessibility Champion network among customer-facing employees to promote accessibility as a shared value for employees and customers. Champions advocate for accessibility best practices, support colleagues in serving customers with disabilities and help foster an inclusive workplace.

Improving Accessibility for Customers

In the long term we plan to:

• Advance the 2026 to 2029 Accessibility Plan by developing a structured, disability‑focused community partnerships strategy with defined selection criteria, in collaboration with the Customer Accessibility team, to help reduce barriers to accessible travel and services.
• Support the implementation of the 2026 to 2029 Accessibility Plan through the identification, onboarding and active support of three disability‑focused community partners, leveraging lived experience and community expertise to advance customer accessibility and inclusive travel objectives.
• Explore options to align accessibility metrics and data collection practices to enable organization-wide tracking and benchmarking. Use standardized reporting to identify trends, measure progress and drive accountability for accessibility outcomes.

Improving Accessibility for Employees

In the long term we plan to:

• Increase awareness and participation in the Diverse Abilities Employee Resource Group by featuring the group in internal communications and leadership town halls.
• Create a workplace environment where employees feel safe to disclose their disability status and request accommodations without fear of stigma or reprisal.

Transportation

The Transportation and the Design and Delivery of Programs and Services focus areas are closely related. Together, they include the full travel experience, such as moving through the terminal, boarding, in‑flight service and deplaning. This area is where many of our accessibility responsibilities and commitments are concentrated.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Mobility Aid Tracking: We strengthened protection of mobility aids by improving how they are identified, tracked and monitored. We expanded tracking updates in the Air Canada mobile app on more international flights, introducing real-time alerts when issues occur and clarifying responsibility for resolution.
• Sharing Information: We improved how accessibility information is shared by enhancing website and app content. This includes providing step‑by‑step guidance, adding links to airport information and piloting in‑person support to help arriving customers navigate with greater confidence.
• Oxygen: We enhanced support for customers using medical or disability-related equipment by making it easier to use oxygen devices on board. We partnered to offer discounted oxygen options.
• Working with Aircraft and Equipment Manufacturers: We reduced inconsistencies across the journey by working with manufacturers to address equipment limits and reduce barriers related to aircraft design and airport infrastructure.
• Boarding and Transfers: We improved boarding and transfer experiences by adding transfer slings at Canadian airports, updating training for employees and confirming safe options to secure mobility aids in the cabin, where feasible.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Aircraft Design and Physical Constraints Affecting Accessibility: Physical and design constraints of certain aircraft, including cargo door dimensions and cabin layouts, limit the ability to accommodate some mobility aids.
• Aircraft Accessibility Features and Wayfinding: There are opportunities to improve lavatories on board, enhance in-seat controls and expand independent onboard navigation.
• Mobility Aid Handling and Protection: Wheelchair or mobility aid damage or delays occur.
• Boarding, Deplaning and Transfer Support: Getting on and off the aircraft can be difficult at some airports, particularly where equipment such as passenger lifts is not available or where narrow-aisle wheelchairs can be uncomfortable.
• Continuity of Accessibility Support During Disruptions: Accessibility requirements can be harder to maintain during itinerary changes, disruptions or flight transitions.
• Sensory Considerations Across the Travel Environment: Factors such as strong smells, scented products, bright lighting, and elevated noise levels can increase discomfort or fatigue, making the travel experience more difficult to navigate.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving Pre-Flight Customer Accessibility

In the near term, we plan to:

• Launch a formal service dog testing and certification option for customers whose dogs are owner-trained or trained outside of recognized organizations. The launch is scheduled for early June 2026.
• Use and promote person-first language across all internal communications, training materials and operational documents when referring to customers who use wheelchairs or mobility aids (e.g., "person who uses a wheelchair"; "customer who uses a mobility aid" or "customer travelling with a wheelchair").
• Implement a standardized mobility aid handling checklist for use by employees and ground handlers to ensure safe and consistent transport of mobility aids.
• Make best efforts to account for cargo door size when allocating aircraft within the flight schedule, as required.
• Continue engaging with manufacturers of aircraft in our fleet regarding mobility aid transportation. This includes advising them of the challenges caused by small cargo door dimensions and requesting larger cargo doors on future aircraft design as well as interim workaround solutions like specialized cargo containers for mobility aids.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Continue reviewing processes to ensure all options are explored with the customer in the event the customer’s power mobility aid cannot fit in the cargo hold of the aircraft scheduled on the customer’s initial itinerary.
• Develop enhanced tracking for large power mobility aids to maximize the ability of the Network Planning team to accommodate these mobility aids.
• Continue working with Star Alliance^®, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other close airline partners to align how airlines use Special Service Request (SSR) codes and propose enhancements. We will work with all relevant parties, internally and externally, to improve communication SSR codes to ensure accessibility requirements are maintained during rebooking or schedule changes.
• Evaluate and begin replacing aging motorized in-terminal transport equipment, such as electric carts, passenger lift and powered wheelchair pushers, with improved solutions that enhance comfort and efficiency for customers with disabilities.

Improving Customer Accessibility at the Airport

In the long term, we plan to:

• Expand the deployment of passenger lifts and transfer equipment to smaller airports across Canada to improve boarding and deplaning for customers with mobility disabilities.
• Ensure consistent incorporation of transfer sling availability into contracts with third-party providers in the United States.
• Evaluate improved aisle chair options including compact designs that allow for greater customer independence and motorized options that reduce reliance on manual assistance. Ensure any new equipment is compatible with multiple aircraft types to provide a consistent experience across the fleet.
• Explore self-serve mobility aid tagging options to make check-in easier for customers with mobility aids.
• Continue building relationships and monitoring industry advancements in accessibility technology and task deployment to identify opportunities for improving service delivery.
• Improve boarding and deplaning options in Latin America for customers with mobility-related disabilities by ensuring that accessibility is regularly discussed with ground handlers to address known infrastructure and equipment gaps.
• Continue seeking opportunities to partner with airports to explore technology to improve independent movement and wayfinding, including autonomous wheelchairs, baggage-assist robots, and applications to support navigation.
• Continue to advocate with airports to implement and improve the availability of ambulifts (enclosed lifting vehicles that raise customers unable to walk or navigate steps to aircraft door level) as standard equipment at major Canadian airports.
• Enhance and monitor the regular inspection and maintenance program for accessibility equipment (including wheelchairs and transfer devices) to ensure equipment remains available to use.
• Collaborate with airport authorities and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to advocate for a dedicated accessibility lane at Canadian hub airports, separate from the family lane. This lane would continue to recognize the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program and provide a more efficient and dignified screening experience for customers with disabilities.
• Work with airport partners and CATSA to make the process for providing gate passes to non-travelling care partners or support persons more consistent. Publish more information about the process.

Improve the Reliability of Mobility Aid Handling

In the near term, we plan to:

• Define and implement processes during flight disruptions to prioritize power mobility aid users, including establishing best efforts to mitigate the impact of day-of aircraft changes and rebooking customers.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Develop integrated process and system controls that prevent flights from departing when mobility aids are missing from the cargo hold to reduce incidents of mobility aids being separated from customers.
• Continue expanding mobility aid tracking notifications to additional international airports, strengthening global consistency and providing customers with greater visibility into the status of their equipment.
• Implement enhancements to handheld digital devices used in ramp operations to improve the handling of mobility aids. As handheld devices become more widely available, explore the feasibility of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and training to formalize taking a photo of the stowed and secured mobility aid.
• Introduce automation for planning of mobility aids on all flights to provide awareness to loading crews and reduce incidents of mobility aids being separated from customers.
• Continue enhancing mobility aid notification processes and communications between ground handling and in-flight services. Building on trials conducted over 2025, refine and expand these improvements over the next three years to ensure customers travelling with mobility aids receive timely updates and consistent service.
• Explore creating an Air Canada-branded pouch for tools and loose components, designed to clip securely to the mobility aid or be returned to the customer upon arrival.
• Continue to engage directly with mobility aid manufacturers to support information sharing on batteries and disassembly requirements and to achieve a travel-ready, large power mobility aid that can fit through all aircraft cargo doors safely and securely.
• Include cargo door size and powered mobility aid carrying capabilities as a factor when selecting partners for our regional flight operations within North America, including both aircraft type and carrier.
• Continue refining the live mishandling notification tool to provide instant alerts when a mobility aid is mishandled, enabling a faster, more co-ordinated recovery and reducing customer impact.
• Continue maturing data and recovery infrastructure, leveraging dashboards and real-time alerts to drive faster, more consistent responses when mobility aid issues occur.

Improving Customer Accessibility During the Flight

In the near term, we plan to:

• Continue to deliver and expand annual accessibility training programs for in-flight employees, including:
  • Training on regulatory requirements.
  • Assistance on board with accessibility features (e.g., onboard wheelchairs, movable armrests, lavatories).
  • Customer service for customers with disabilities focused on dignity, independence and choice.

In all accessibility training, highlight and showcase lived experience and the impact of barriers on customers.

• Provide hands-on training to promote consistent use of seatbelt extenders to secure mobility aids in aircraft seats when open seats are available.
• Launch an allergen information pilot for in-flight meals, enabling customers to digitally access detailed allergen labelling on their personal devices in advance and during their flight. This system will expand to include all food on trays beginning in 2026 for flights departing from Canada.
• Explore the possibility of introducing sealed, allergen-friendly meals that are free of the top 14 allergens on international and long-haul flights from Canada, prepared by a dedicated caterer to prevent cross-contamination.
• Consult with Air Canada's Accessibility Advisory Committee on a business class dishware redesign, incorporating accessibility features like anti-skid trays and improved edge designs for easier handling.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Trial adjusting the in-flight arrival announcements to offer customers the choice of walking up the bridge for assistance or waiting on board for assistance from their seat or the aircraft door.
• Explore the development of a tag or identifier for carry-on items that are fragile or medically necessary, alerting cabin crew to check with the customers before moving or relocating the item. This could include a printed tag with a recognizable symbol or code issued at check-in or at the gate.
• Improve in-flight entertainment system accessibility by enhancing magnification, contrast, text size and search functions and enabling independent activation of accessibility features for customers who are blind or partially sighted.
• Launch a new in-flight entertainment feature on new aircraft that displays lavatory locations and accessibility features, allowing customers to see at a glance whether an accessible lavatory is available and where.
• Explore expanding and formalizing the pilot of complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi access for customers who are blind or partially sighted or d/Deaf or hard of hearing on North American flights, enabling customers to use their own accessibility apps. Monitor program effectiveness and develop a customer communication strategy that raises awareness while protecting program integrity.
• Explore feasibility of a discreet alert function that enables customers to notify cabin crew they need lavatory assistance, allowing crew to prepare in advance while preserving customer privacy.
• Refine exit row policies to remove barriers where possible.
• Explore introducing sensory kits on board to support customers with autism, anxiety and sensory-processing needs. Assess the feasibility of stocking noise-cancelling headphones on aircraft for customers use during flights.
• Explore introducing accessible dishware kits for onboard use, containing items such as straws and cup grips, to support customers with dexterity or mobility-related disabilities.
• Continue to actively monitor and participate in industry initiatives related to in-cabin wheelchair securement. Share learnings internally and assess opportunities to pilot or adopt emerging solutions as they become available.

Improving Customer Accessibility After the Flight

In the long term, we plan to:

• Include guest speakers with disabilities, both visible and non-visible, in town halls and other large meetings to build enhanced understanding of the accessibility barriers that customers face.
• Review policies and procedures to ensure customers requiring transfer assistance have been deplaned before cabin grooming, cleaning or maintenance work begins. Clarify expectations for co-ordination between deplaning assistance teams and turnaround crews to protect customer dignity and reduce confusion during the deplaning process.

Design and Delivery of Programs and Services

Design and Delivery of Programs and Services focuses on how programs and services are planned, designed and delivered to customers and employees, and how accessibility is considered throughout these activities to support inclusive access.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Travel Rehearsal: Supported first-time accessible travel to reduce uncertainty and build confidence through hands-on travel rehearsal programs. Delivered in partnership with Spinal Cord Injury Ontario and Toronto Pearson, as well as Spinal Cord Injury BC and Vancouver Airport, the program includes transfer demonstrations.
• Sunflower Program: Improved access to inclusive services for people with non-visible disabilities by expanding awareness of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Lanyard program.
• Co-ordination: Strengthened internal co-ordination to help ensure accessibility‑related customer complaints are resolved more efficiently and consistently.
• Mobility Aid Handling: Applied research and operational learning to avoid mobility aid damage. These insights informed program design, employee guidance and ongoing service improvements.
• Training: Invested in training, guidelines and practical tools to improve provision of consistent, respectful service.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Service Consistency and Wait Times for Mobility Assistance: Wait times for wheelchair assistance can be long at some airports, and service quality can vary.
• Preparedness and Familiarization for Customers: Air travel can feel overwhelming for customers who are new to flying or who have cognitive, developmental or anxiety-related disabilities. Unfamiliar environments, sensory stimulation and unpredictable situations can create barriers to comfortable travel.
• Accessibility Service Co-ordination and Measurement: Accessibility services and customer support are delivered through multiple channels, but standardized ways to measure service quality and track outcomes are not yet fully in place across the organization. This can make it difficult to assess how well services are working over time and to co-ordinate improvements across teams.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving the Accessibility of Pre-Flight Information and Services

In the long term, we plan to:

• Continue enhancing pre-flight accessibility information to include details about onboard accessibility features, such as lavatory locations, accessible lavatory availability and other relevant cabin features. This will help customers with disabilities plan ahead and travel with greater confidence.
• Improve customer communication explaining wheelchair assistance processes at airports, including pre-travel information and clear explanations at the airport, to reduce confusion.
• Develop visual social stories or sensory stories to help customers understand what to expect during their travel experience, including arriving at the airport, boarding, landing, baggage claim, delays and disruptions. Work with people with lived experience to develop the guides and create both child-friendly and adult-oriented versions.
• Continue adding resources and information to the Air Canada website to help customers with disabilities plan and prepare for their journey with confidence. This additional information could include available services, provide practical tips and explain how to request support, ensuring customers have the information they need in one easy-to-find location.

Improving the Accessibility of Airport-Based Services

In the near term, we plan to:

• Continue promoting awareness of airport accessibility features to employees to better support customers.
• Promote the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard program through the Air Canada website, airport signage and customer communications. Provide information on airport locations where lanyards are available free of charge and include links to program resources.
• Align efforts to promote the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard program with employee training and supporting documentation to ensure employees are knowledgeable about the program and can direct customers to available supports. Include best practices for respectfully approaching and assisting customers with less visible disabilities in accessibility and customer service training.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Simplify and consolidate employee-facing policies to update and renew how airport teams work. These changes will make it easier for agents to find accurate, consistent information, including accessibility procedures, and remove barriers to self-service for customers with disabilities. Assess the use of an AI-powered search tool to help employees quickly navigate policies and identify conflicting information.
• Employ deployment strategies with the aim of reducing wait times for wheelchair assistance upon arrival at major Canadian airports.
• Develop and implement protocols for priority assistance to customers with disabilities during irregular operations, including reminders to airport agents to provide additional patience and specialized handling to meet their needs.

Improving In-Flight Accessibility

In the long term, we plan to:

• Equip cabin crew with aircraft-specific accessibility guides on their devices, highlighting existing features. Enable communication with crew regarding specific customer needs.
• Review and explore policy and technology barriers that arise with cabin upgrades.
• Develop clearer seating accommodation rules for customers with disabilities, reducing barriers such as medical documentation requirements.

Supporting Employees in Providing Accessibility Services

In the near term, we plan to:

• Assess how best to equip customer-facing employees to recognize and respond to requirements of customers with non-visible disabilities during high-stress moments in the travel journey, including travel disruptions or escalations during flight.
• Enhance training on proper etiquette for assisting blind or partially sighted customers and d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing customers.
• Review employee training and guidance to ensure wheelchair assistance is not automatically offered or assigned to customers just because they have a disability. Train employees to ask customers about their specific needs rather than assume that mobility assistance is required and clarify which types of assistance indicate mobility-related needs versus other types of support such as communication, sensory or cognitive assistance.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Incorporate accessibility into annual recurrent training for flight attendants and pilots to ensure flight attendants and pilots remain knowledgeable and confident, and to ensure consistent, high-quality service.
• Incorporate additional testimonials from customers with disabilities into training programs to build enhanced understanding of the accessibility barriers that customers face.
• Continue to deliver and expand annual accessibility training programs for customer-facing airport employees, including training on regulatory requirements, customer transfer techniques, safe handling of mobility aids and customer service for customers with disabilities, focused on dignity, independence and choice. In all accessibility training, highlight and showcase lived experience and the impact of barriers on customers.
• Provide training and design support to teams across the organization to start the process of ensuring customer-facing products training, documents and media are accessible by design.
• Complete a full review of online training modules introduced to cover new regulatory requirements contained in the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations and identify opportunities to replace or update current modules or combine modules into newly launched training programs.

Improving Service Support, Complaints Handling and Internal Escalation

In the near term, we plan to:

• Continue expanding the Complaint Resolution Official qualification to additional managers, supervisors and pilot managers to ensure customers have more points of contact for resolving accessibility issues.
• Extend Customer Contact Centre hours from 10 p.m. to midnight ET to improve access to real-time accessibility support. Assign additional supervision and leadership to support the expanded hours and ensure consistent service coverage.
• Reduce response times for accessibility-related inquiries and complaints within Customer Relations by prioritizing queue management and providing customers with accessibility needs timely resolutions.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Strengthen internal communication and reporting procedures among different customer-facing employee groups to document, escalate (as needed) and resolve accessibility-related incidents appropriately and efficiently. Increase proactive reporting and improve response times from operational teams.

Strengthening Accessibility-Related Partnerships and Community Investment

In the long term, we plan to:

• Contribute to the objectives of the 2026–2029 Accessibility Plan by sustaining engagement with regional autism and disability organizations, including their participation in aviation familiarization programs at airports across Canada, to improve understanding, awareness and the customer experience for customers with disabilities.
• Explore partnerships with service dog training schools and other disability organizations to participate in airport familiarization tours at Canadian airports.

Improving Accessibility for Customers and Employees

In the long term, we plan to:

• Build an internal database of ongoing barriers covering all stages of the customer and employee journey to guide ongoing accessibility improvements.
• Strengthen collaboration with airport authorities to ensure timely communication of accessibility resources and amenities to frontline employees and customers.
• Consult and adopt the International Inclusive Participation Guidelines to inform accessible event planning and customer service approaches.

Employment

Headquartered in Montréal, with major hubs in Toronto Pearson, Vancouver and Montréal, Air Canada, in April 2026, employed approximately 39,000 people worldwide and is a federally regulated employer subject to the Accessible Canada Act. Headquartered in Mississauga, in April 2026, Air Canada Rouge employed approximately 1,000 employees. This section reflects our commitment to identifying, removing and preventing barriers to accessibility throughout the employee life cycle, and to creating an inclusive, respectful and accessible workplace for all employees.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Inclusive Meetings: Supported more inclusive and accessible workplaces by launching the “Guidelines on Inclusive Meeting” and “Guidelines for Inclusive Event Planning,” giving teams clear, practical guidance to help make meetings and events more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
• Employee Travel: Made work‑related travel more accessible for employees by introducing an option to share accessibility requirements and request accessibility services when booking work‑related travel, helping reduce barriers and uncertainty in advance.
• Workplace Accommodation Training: Launched a mandatory, recurrent Workplace Accommodation training module for managers and provided in-person training on the workplace accommodation process, streamlining the intake of accommodation requests.
• Accommodation Processes: Developed departmental and team-specific accommodation processes to address department and team’s unique needs.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Workplace Accommodation Awareness: Awareness of available workplace accommodations and ergonomic supports is not always consistent across locations and teams, which may affect timely access to appropriate supports.
• Culture of Disclosure and Inclusion: Some employees may feel uncertain about disclosing a disability at work, often due to concerns about judgment or uncertainty about how requests will be handled.
• Limited Air Canada Rouge Internal Accommodations Expertise: Air Canada Rouge’s in-house expertise on accommodations is still developing, which can lead to inconsistent approaches and delays in accommodating employees.
• Barriers to Inclusive Employment Opportunities: Recruitment, hiring and career development practices may not fully support equitable access for people with disabilities, highlighting the need to establish clear pathways to employment and advancement to improve representation and inclusion.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving the Accessibility of Recruitment and Onboarding

In the near term, we plan to:

• Review and revise job descriptions to require accessibility expertise, where applicable to the job.
• Include a clear statement on all job postings and the Careers page informing applicants that accommodations for people with disabilities are available at every stage of the recruitment process and provide contact information for requesting accommodations.
• Train recruiters, hiring managers and leaders across all departments on recruiting neurodivergent candidates, the duty to accommodate and standardized accommodation processes to ensure employees with disabilities receive consistent support.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Strengthen partnerships with disability organizations to create more employment pathways for people with disabilities.
• Evaluate development of dedicated employment and internship streams for people with disabilities, creating structured pathways into careers at Air Canada.
• Produce supporting documents to launch a paid internship program for people with disabilities to provide meaningful work experience and create a pipeline for future employment.

Improving the Accessibility of Accommodations

In the near term, we plan to:

• Develop and launch an internal Accessibility Hub for employees, with an initial focus on workplace accommodation information, benefits and supports across the employment cycle.
• Improve intranet and existing internal tools to make accessibility-related information, including workplace accommodations and employee supports, easier to find.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Strengthen organizational understanding of workplace accommodations by delivering targeted training and resources to the Disability Management team, senior leaders and managers. Training will clarify that accommodations are a core component of accessibility, outline approaches to supporting employees with long-term disabilities and reinforce obligations under the duty to accommodate and applicable human rights legislation.
• Formalize the process of finding accommodations for individuals who are ready to return to work following a disability leave with the aim that each branch is actively accountable for implementation of the process.
• Further automate accommodation requests through a dedicated tracking system for the Workplace Accommodation Office.
• Develop and implement an audit process to monitor the accommodations program, ensuring requests are handled consistently, in a timely manner in accordance with policy and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Build internal capacity at Air Canada Rouge to receive and fulfill more complex employee accommodation requests.

Improving Knowledge of Accessibility and Training Employees

In the long term, we plan to:

• Provide managers and teams with proactive training on inclusive workplace practices (e.g., effective communication with colleagues who are hard-of-hearing or have other disabilities) so that accommodations feel seamless rather than exceptional. With employee consent, provide relevant guidance to team members to support a smooth and inclusive work environment. Ensure that employees have input on the extent of information shared with colleagues.
• Create a companion guidebook for managers to support the onboarding of people with disabilities within the workplace.
• Launch a biannual awareness program for operating managers to increase visibility of the Disability Management team and its work. Provide exposure to the spaces, tools and initiatives the team is working with and on, building understanding and support across the organization to enable the team to accomplish more.
• Explore processes and features to include captioning and adjustable playback speeds for training.

Improving How we Support Employees with Disabilities

In the long term, we plan to:

• Identify spaces that can be transformed into quiet spaces or sensory break areas in offices and operational environments, where feasible.
• Partner with airport authorities to explore solutions for airport-specific workspaces, advocating for sensory-friendly options such as quiet rooms or low-stimulation areas accessible to employees.
• Implement proactive outreach so that employees with newly acquired disabilities are informed of available emergency and evacuation support and how to request it.

Built Environment

Our built environment includes office buildings and operational facilities, such as aircraft hangars and aircraft interiors. It also includes customer-facing spaces, such as lounges, within airport terminals. Other spaces critical to air travel are operated by our partners, such as airport authorities, where we can influence accessibility but not control it. Some Air Canada-branded facilities are provided through partners or leases, where we don’t have full control. In these cases, the ability to implement accessibility modifications may be limited or more challenging and may be subject to the terms of those agreements.

Across these environments, we strive to design and maintain spaces that support accessible travel for customers while also fostering inclusive and accessible workplaces for employees.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Seating Areas: We opened an accessible check-in seating area and a new accessible Air Canada Café at U.S. departures at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. These feature diverse seating options, improved wayfinding, wide paths of travel and clear signage.
• Check-in Areas: We are currently working with several airports to install newly updated accessibility check-in areas near departure areas to improve access, convenience, privacy and comfort among customers getting ready to embark on their travel journey.
• Washrooms: We retrofitted washrooms within the Montréal headquarters offices, which included updates to washroom designs and incorporating a universal washroom on every floor level.
• Emergency Measures Handbook: We remediated our digital emergency measures handbook for employees to make it more accessible to people with disabilities.
• Training: 13 Air Canada employees completed the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification^TM (RHFAC) to better inform and support accessible design and accommodations across owned and leased spaces across our real estate portfolio. These employees are members of the real estate/facilities team, design team, lounge team and the customer and employee accessibility teams.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Built Environment Consistency and Spatial Constraints: Accessibility features are not always implemented consistently across offices, terminals and lounges. Space limitations can affect access to elevators and inclusive washrooms, and long airport corridors can create barriers to ease of movement.
• Design Barriers in Aircraft Cabins: Aircraft cabin design features, including overhead controls and limited legroom, can present barriers for customers with disabilities.
• Emergency Preparedness: There are opportunities to improve the accessibility and consistency of signage, safety materials and emergency documentation and to strengthen alignment of emergency procedures that support employees with disabilities.
• Accessibility in Office Environments: We are aware of barriers in our office environments, including open-concept layouts, building navigation, washroom accessibility and ergonomic seating.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving Accessibility for Customers and Employees

In the near term, we plan to:

• Engage our Corporate Real Estate team early in renovation and construction projects to incorporate new universal accessibility design guidelines. Establish a process to proactively assess accessibility improvements during all building projects.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Build capacity, either internally or by engaging vendors, for accessible design of the built environment.
• Develop universal accessibility design guidelines that apply across all built environment projects, regardless of location type. Guidelines will include standard design elements such as lever door handles, push-button access and other accessibility features.
• Establish a set of functional accessibility standards for Air Canada lounge design for new or fully refurbished lounges, ensuring consistency across all future lounge projects. Standards will address elements such as turning radius, table heights, acoustics, floor transitions, washrooms and seating with and without arms, informed by industry best practices, including the YVR universal accessibility guidelines and Rick Hansen Foundation standards.
• Engage an accessibility consultant to conduct assessments of Air Canada lounges and provide recommendations for built environment upgrades that improve accessibility for customers with disabilities.

Improving Accessibility for Customers

In the near term, we plan to:

• Continue launching removable lavatory walls on Boeing B737 and Airbus A220 aircraft, allowing adjacent lavatories to be combined to provide additional space.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Work on ensuring that seat controls and flight attendant call buttons on new aircraft programs to be launched in the future are easy to use. This means ensuring physical buttons are placed alongside digital options so that customers are not required to rely solely on touchscreens.
• Apply accessibility improvements developed for new-generation aircraft to existing fleet types during upcoming retrofits where possible and identify opportunities to enhance accessibility on current aircraft, including incorporating high-contrast placards with raised characters and Braille, expanding accessible lavatory configurations with movable walls across the fleet and exploring improved privacy solutions for customers with disabilities using onboard lavatories.
• Ensure lavatory amenities are placed at accessible heights where possible during future aircraft washroom redesigns, making items like tissues and soap dispensers reachable for customers using wheelchairs or those of shorter stature.
• Explore solutions that would enable blind or partially sighted customers to locate their seat independently without needing to reach overhead bins.
• Assess technology options to improve accessibility assistance through the airport. This improvement could streamline the delivery of support and empower customers to travel through airports more independently with on-demand access to support.

Improving Accessibility for Employees

In the long term, we plan to:

• Evaluate and make improvements to emergency signage and documentation available to employees.
• Update Building Life Safety Plans and emergency procedures to improve evacuation support for employees and visitors unable to self-evacuate, as well as an enhanced buddy system, floor-clearing procedures and injury prevention protocols.
• Improve communication of employee and visitor emergency procedures for people needing assistance in the Emergency Procedures Handbook through training, safety videos and an Emergency Handbook app.
• Increase employee knowledge about the availability of ergonomic tools and equipment for employees, including sit-stand desks and adapted monitors.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Air Canada’s ICT focus area includes the digital platforms, applications, websites and communication tools that customers and employees rely on to access information, interact with Air Canada and receive services.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Digital Tools: Improved the accessibility of digital tools by developing a common design system with built-in accessibility features, making it easier for teams to create accessible employee and customer-facing products.
• Testing: Air Canada’s accessibility testing team, which includes people with lived experience of disability, has increased the identification of accessibility issues by 43 per cent.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Embedding Accessibility in Product Development: Accessibility is not always integrated early in digital product development, which can result in barriers being introduced in tools and services. Our accessibility testing team does not currently include perspectives from people with cognitive disabilities and people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing to better reflect how people interact with digital tools.
• Digital Communication Channels for All Customers: Customers who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing need more real‑time ways to contact Air Canada.
• Third-Party Digital Products Limit Our Control: Many employee- and customer-facing digital products are delivered on third-party platforms. This means we don’t fully design or control their features, which limits how quickly we can address accessibility gaps.
• Keeping Pace with New ICT Regulations: We are confident our customer-facing digital properties will comply with the new regulations, but we need to make sure our employee-facing digital tools meet these requirements as well.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving Accessibility for Customers and Employees

In the long term, we plan to:

• Update project workflows to ensure teams understand accessibility requirements for each employee-facing project.
• Explore solutions to expand the accessibility capacity of the Design team to embed accessibility perspectives into employee and customer-facing product development.
• Expand our capacity for accessibility testing and explore adding additional disability groups for user testing.
• Proactively enhance the accessibility of systems to ensure compliance and a positive user experience. Establish and follow an exceptions process where it is not feasible to do so, such as where there are no accessible products that meet business needs.
• Integrate digital accessibility standards into the development of all new employee and customer-facing systems and tools. Expand our capacity to remediate legacy internal systems, webpages and documents when updates are made.

Improving Accessibility for Customers

In the near term, we plan to:

• Implement a live chat option to customer service channels, providing d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers with real-time support.
• Add accessibility request functionality to the mobile booking app, allowing customers to self-serve their accessibility needs during the booking process.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Assess the feasibility of deploying tracking across all motorized and non-motorized accessibility equipment at airports to manage and improve equipment availability.
• Develop accessible customer profile technology that allows customers to save their accessibility requirements (including mobility assistance, seating needs and service dog information) within their Aeroplan profile. This will enable customers to store accessibility requirements for future travel, reduce the need to re-enter information with each booking, improve consistency across journeys and support easier follow-up by employees.
• Assess and evaluate options that would allow customer-specific requirements not easily captured through standard methods to be recorded, stored and automatically communicated to relevant employees at key touchpoints throughout the travel journey.
• Embed accessibility testing with people with lived experience into the release cycle for all customer-facing applications, digital products and updates. To the extent possible, identify and resolve accessibility issues before updates are released. Ensure that updates are not released with critical accessibility issues.
• Complete a digital accessibility maturity assessment to identify gaps and prioritize improvements across customer-facing digital products and platforms.

Improving Accessibility for Employees

In the long term, we plan to:

• Develop employee personas, based on an accessibility needs assessment of our employees and their positions. Use these personas to better assess and meet the needs of employees with disabilities when developing internal products, tools and training programs.
• Explore technology options for auditoriums and meeting rooms to improve universal access to communication and access for employees who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing.
• Complete a digital accessibility maturity assessment to identify gaps and prioritize improvements across employee-facing digital products and platforms.

Communication, Other than ICT

The Communications focus area at Air Canada addresses how information is communicated to customers and employees across digital and non-digital formats, making sure content is accessible, clear and inclusive regardless of the communication method.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Clearer Information: Improved customer communication by providing clearer accessibility information throughout the journey. We are also sending tailored notifications about available services at hub airports, based on each customer’s itinerary and accessibility requirements.
• Conferences and Events: Shared learning with accessibility experts and partners by taking part in national and international forums and conferences focused on accessible air travel and disability advocacy, highlighting and discussing our accessibility services.
• Campaign to Challenge Stigma: Worked to challenge stigma and increase understanding through a 2025 National Disability Employment Awareness Month campaign that elevated lived experience, shared practical accessibility insights and highlighted voices of people with disabilities.
• Learning: Strengthened learning, dialogue and shared understanding of accessibility through employee-focused and community-focused initiatives. Employee-focused initiatives included learning activities centred on breaking down barriers and deepening inclusive understanding of disability. Community initiatives included an event focused on simplifying travel, featuring joint discussions with airport and employee groups and a fireside chat.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Access to Information in Multiple Formats: Some communications are not accessible for customers who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing, including safety videos without sign language and announcements delivered without text options.
• Awareness of Accessibility Services: Customers and employees are not always aware of the many accessibility services Air Canada offers, or they find them difficult to locate.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving Accessibility for Customers

In the near term, we plan to:

• Complete a comprehensive rewrite of the accessibility procedure publication with a new Accessibility chapter. Updates include respectful, person-first language, removal of outdated practices such as using blankets for transfers, streamlined content and clear guidance on cabin stowage of small mobility aids in line with regulatory requirements.
• Improve how employees communicate with customers about their accessibility needs by adopting plain language, avoiding airport jargon and ensuring respectful, assumption-free interactions. Develop guidance and resources to help employees clearly explain the travel journey and actively listen to customers’ individual requirements.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Explore solutions to enable automatic captioning of crew and pilot announcements, providing real-time text access to onboard announcements for customers who are d/Deaf, hard of hearing or have auditory processing disabilities.
• Explore text-based and speech-to-text solutions for airport announcements to improve communication access for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers.
• Add options for ASL and LSQ interpretation and English and French captions for safety videos.
• Pilot Video Remote Interpretation (VRI) in key Canadian airports to provide on-demand access to sign language interpreters for customers who are d/Deaf. Based on pilot results, expand the program and ensure employees are trained to use VRI technology and offer it proactively to customers who need it.
• Pilot a program to teach cabin crew 30 useful signs in American Sign Language (ASL) or Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ, Quebec Sign Language) to enhance communication with d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. Based on pilot results, extend training to airport employees.
• Ensure customers with disabilities know that support is available by expanding direct-to-customer accessibility notifications, by email and notifications in our mobile app, to additional airports. Continue refining notifications based on customer feedback and focus group insights to ensure the information is clear and useful.
• Collaborate with airport partners to highlight the location of accessibility desks before security, enabling Air Canada to deliver a smoother, more prepared travel experience.
• Proactively promote Accessibility Services to customers earlier in the travel journey, rather than relying on organic discovery after booking. Increase visibility of available supports through the website, booking flow, pre-travel communications and marketing channels.
• Review and simplify written customer communications using plain language principles, ensuring information is clear, concise and accessible.
• Integrate cargo door dimensions into the booking flow for customers travelling with power mobility aids so that the customer can independently select the flight that can accommodate their mobility aid.
• Strengthen processes and available technology to ensure that customers receive accessibility assistance in the official language of their choice.
• Improve and streamline disruption communications to ensure information is accessible, clear and delivered in plain language, with proactive outreach to customers who have disclosed accessibility needs.

Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities

The Procurement focus area at Air Canada covers how goods and services are purchased and how accessibility is considered in purchasing activities and vendor relationships.

Highlights of Accessibility Progress

• Requirements: Recognized the importance of consistent customer assistance services and set clear accessibility expectations in requests for proposals. We defined service standards and pricing and used these requirements when selecting and managing service providers across the organization.

Highlights of Identified Barriers

• Accessibility Requirements in Vendor Selection: Accessibility is not always consistently embedded in the selection of software, services and tools.
• Streamlining Acquisition of Accessibility Equipment: Accessing accessibility equipment like ergonomic tools or mobility devices can be time‑consuming.

What We’ll Continue to Work On

Improving Accessibility for Customers and Employees

In the near term, we plan to:

• Partner with the Inclusive Workplace and Supply Council of Canada to build knowledge of supplier diversity programs and inform inclusive procurement practices. Explore other similar organizations that certify disability-ownership of businesses.

In the long term, we plan to:

• Strengthen accessibility requirements into the software procurement process for web-based customer-facing platforms as well as internal employee-used software.
• Develop easy-to-use checklists that help employees identify potential accessibility barriers when making purchases or starting new projects. After testing the checklists, work toward adding accessibility requirements into the purchasing system across the organization.
• Support procurement employees to understand when and how to consider accessibility in purchasing decisions. Provide clear guidance on what the Accessible Canada Act requires, building on awareness work already underway by the Strategic Procurement team.
• In order to ensure alignment with Air Canada values, accessibility will be addressed in the Supplier Code of Conduct to highlight base expectation from suppliers.

Improving Accessibility for Customers

In the long term, we plan to:

• Work with Ground Services Equipment, Strategic Procurement and Finance to streamline the purchasing process for accessibility-related equipment, reducing the time between identifying a need and completing a purchase order while maintaining compliance and safety requirements.

Improving Accessibility for Employees

In the long term, we plan to:

• Establish criteria for accessibility requirements in the procurement of heavy equipment, prioritizing equipment with accessibility features.

Sponsorship and Community Engagement

We build relationships with disability organizations and other community partners to advance inclusion, strengthen disability awareness and support accessible travel and employment.

These connections help us share information about our accessibility services, learn from lived experience and reach people who may benefit from our offerings. Our goals are to give customers clear information and choices to support planning and reduce stress and to create more inclusive employment opportunities for current and future employees.

Canadian Paralympic Committee

As Canada’s largest airline and the country’s flag carrier, we have been a proud partner of the Canadian Paralympic Team since 2007, extending our partnership until the 2030 Games. Our commitments include:

• Air Canada’s #FlyTheFlag national campaign, featuring the brand spot “Tyler’s Walk” starring Paralympian Tyler McGregor, celebrates the resilience and determination of Team Canada athletes and inspires Canadians to connect with the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• Ensuring Team Canada athletes and delegation members experience seamless and enjoyable travel supported by the airline’s employee-driven Going for Gold program, throughout their journey to and from the Games and beyond.
• Working behind the scenes to seamlessly co-ordinate athlete and team travel across multiple airports, ensuring specialized sports equipment and mobility aids are handled with care.
• Providing complimentary 35K Aeroplan Elite status to athletes through its Podium Program to enhance their travel experience during and outside the Games period.
• Providing individual Care & Share packages departing from Canada for added comfort including in-flight comfort, items and memorabilia for sharing at the Games
• Hosting celebratory events at airports as athletes depart for and return from the Games.

ParaTough Cup Fundraising

Air Canada is a proud sponsor of the ParaTough Cup, the signature fundraising event of the Paralympic Foundation of Canada and presenting sponsor of the Vancouver event. The Air Canada team supports greater awareness and inclusive practices for both employees and customers by providing faceoff in Para sports like Para ice hockey, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball. Participants also get to hear firsthand from Paralympians about their experience and journey through Para sport during a fireside chat interview panel.

Autism and Accessibility Aviation Days – Multiple airports, Canucks Autism Network and other local Autism organizations

Our engagement with the Air Canada Foundation's “Autism Aviation Days” continues to grow and has now extended to eight Canadian airports. During simulation travel days, families check in independently, following a process that closely mirrors an actual travel day. This includes designated check-in counters, printed boarding passes, security procedures and even simulated plane noise during taxiing on the ground, or even short flights offered at selected airports. The goal is to create an authentic travel experience for participants and to derive familiarization and valuable insights into accessible air travel.

Comité consultatif Personnes handicapées

An Air Canada representative has been sitting on the Comité consultatif Personnes handicapées, a Quebec-based advisory committee for people with disabilities, since its creation in 2017 and has been a member of the executive committee since 2024. Being part of the Comité helps us better understand labourmarket issues affecting people with disabilities and identify and promote inclusive employment practices that remove barriers to recruitment, inclusion and retention.

In 2024, we leveraged our relationship with this group to benefit from its community network and recruit people with different disabilities. Our two members of the Quality Assurance User Testing team were both hired through this organization.

In March 2025, we hosted the Comité’s forum “Inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace: new technologies that make a difference” at our Montréal headquarters. This was an opportunity for government and corporate stakeholders to engage on accessible employment. Our Vice President of Global Human Resources opened the forum, and many employees attended the conference and volunteered to assist throughout the day.

Concordia Bursary

As part of our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, Air Canada funds an annual bursary for full-time or part-time students registered with Concordia’s Access Centre for Students with Disabilities. The bursary aims to inspire students with disabilities to pursue careers in the aviation and air transport industry.

‘Talk Description to Me’ Podcast

We sponsored a series of podcasts hosted by J.J. Hunt, an audio describer, and Christine Malec, a member of the blind and partially sighted community. In each episode, they explore current events and culture through description-rich conversations that make visual information easier to understand. The first episode in the sponsored series was a visit to Toronto Pearson International Airport during Air Canada’s official send-off for Team Canada’s Paralympic athletes.

ILL-Abilities

After having supported some of its events in past years, we established a more integrated partnership with ILL-Abilities in 2024. This organization of international professional dancers with various disabilities provides workshops, theatrical performances and motivational entertainment to groups of all ages and abilities. We sponsored a unique dance competition that challenges dancers without disabilities to dance with mobility aids. ILL-Abilities’ public performances and increasing visibility are changing the narrative on the capabilities and contributions of people with disabilities. ILL-Abilities members have also collaborated with Air Canada through travel consultations that provide us with feedback on their travel journey and about our services.

What’s Next

To ensure we are making progress toward our accessibility goals, we track and measure progress internally. Many of these metrics can be used to measure our progress toward multiple commitments and actions. Most importantly, they will tell us how we are progressing toward making Air Canada an even more accessible organization.

Key metrics that we will use internally to track our progress toward our customer-facing commitments include:

• Whether customers with a disability would recommend travelling with Air Canada to another person with their disability type, also called a Net Promoter Score (NPS). This will tell us if customers with disabilities trust the accessibility of our services.
• The number of accessibility-related service requests that we receive and fulfill each year. This will help us track whether people with disabilities know about the services we offer, trust that we will provide them and are comfortable sharing their needs with us.
• The number of accessibility-related complaints we receive each year.
• The rate at which mobility aids, including powerchairs, arrive safely and on time at their destinations.

Key metrics that we will use internally to track our progress related to employee-facing commitments include:

• The annual rate of our employees who self-identify as having a disability. This will show that our workplace is becoming more diverse and that people are feeling more comfortable sharing their disability identities.
• The number of disability-related accommodation requests we receive from employees. This will tell us whether employees with disabilities know about the supports available to them, trust they can access them and are comfortable sharing their needs with us.
• Information about the accessibility-related climate and culture at our workplaces, as reported by employees in our annual survey.

While these metrics play a critical role in guiding our work and monitoring outcomes, they are tracked internally.

We are committed to delivering on this plan meaningfully over the next three years and to making continuous improvements in our accessibility.