Getting ‘Rouged’: Last-minute switches to Air Canada Rouge planes frustrate passengers — but experts say there’s not much they can do

When Air Canada switches flights from its main jets to Air Canada Rouge planes, passengers often see red. They call it “getting Rouged.”
“I don’t want to fly ROUGE,” wrote passenger Jen Dumitrescu in an email to Air Canada customer relations earlier this year after her flight to Toronto from Miami was switched to a Rouge plane just three hours before boarding. She said this was the fourth flight she had been on that had been changed to Rouge, a subsidiary of Air Canada.
It’s a “bait and switch,” she wrote. Seats on the two planes often cost the same, but they shouldn’t, she argued, given the lack of legroom and entertainment on AC Rouge planes.
Air Canada will switch a plane for many reasons, company spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said in an email to the Star. These can include unexpected maintenance problems, delays, air-traffic control restrictions and other issues. 
“In those cases, we will use a spare aircraft if it is available or, failing that, we will put customers on another aircraft that has some downtime,” he said. The airline prefers to swap aircraft for other aircraft of the “same kind.”
“However, the exact same aircraft type and configuration may not be available and we will use another aircraft type,” he added. That’s when Air Canada will use a Rouge aircraft instead of a mainline Air Canada plane and notify customers of the change.
“We make these decisions based on the fact that we know that, above all else, our customers want to travel as scheduled and our priority is to make this possible,” Fitzpatrick said.
The difference between AC Rouge and Air Canada planes lies primarily in the number of seats on the aircraft and the distance between the seats, also known as “seat pitch.” The Rouge fleet generally has more seats than the equivalent Air Canada planes. 
The seat pitch of an economy seat on an AC Rouge Airbus 319-100 is 73.6 cm. The equivalent Air Canada economy plane offers a little more wiggle room, at 81 cm for an economy seat.
The reduced seat pitch allows for additional rows to be squeezed in, making Rouge planes more densely packed. On the Airbus A319-100, Air Canada has 14 business-class seats and 106 economy seats, for a total of 120, while Rouge fits 12 Premium Rouge seats and 124 economy class seats into the same aircraft, for a total of 136, according to its website.
Looking at the A319-100 model, the seat widths are comparable for both; Air Canada economy seats are 45.3 cm wide, while AC Rouge economy seats are marginally wider at 45.7cm. But Rouge economy seats for the same plane recline just 7.6 cm, compared with 12.7 cm on an Air Canada plane.
Plus, Air Canada planes have screens on the backs of seats, where passengers can watch movies, listen to music and track the progress of the flight on an electronic map. AC Rouge planes don’t have those screens, but offer wireless streaming to personal electronic devices.
Despite the differences in seat pitch, space and entertainment, AC Rouge flights can cost the same as Air Canada flights.
At the time of writing, a non-stop basic economy round-trip ticket from Toronto to Miami from Nov. 19 to Nov. 26 costs $492.27 regardless of whether you’re flying AC Rouge or Air Canada.
The same goes for non-stop basic economy tickets from Toronto to Las Vegas, for the same time period: $450.27 for AC Rouge and Air Canada.
Dumitrescu so disliked the AC Rouge experience that she said she paid $125 extra and seven “eUpgrade points” just to ensure she was in Air Canada business class. “I would NOT pay that for ROUGE,” she wrote to customer service in her February email. 
Afia Ahmad, Air Canada customer relations representative, responded to Dumitrescu’s email, saying, “We’re sorry to learn that you were not able to enjoy a seat in business class as originally intended because there was a last-minute change of aircraft for your flight.
“While we do everything possible to avoid aircraft substitutions, it’s always done for safety reasons or to ensure our customers reach their destination on time,” she added. 
Generally, when customers who book business-class seats are switched “(Air Canada tries) to find them the next best available seat,” said Fitzpatrick, “and if they are re-accommodated in a lower cabin, they’ll receive the fare difference.”
Ahmad offered Dumitrescu a 20 per cent discount on the base fare of a future flight, plus 15,000 Aeroplan points, but Dumitrescu was still dissatisfied, stating that switching the planes was not an “apples to apples” exchange.
The lack of legroom on AC Rouge flights is especially bothersome for customers who are taller, like Dumitrescu, who stands five-foot-eight.
Passengers have aired their concerns on multiple Reddit forums. 
“Rouge … (is) honestly inhumane if you are over 6” (feet) like me AND they still allow the seat in front of you to recline,” wrote Reddit user AceAmerica. “I flew Air Canada Rouge once by mistake thinking it was regular Air Canada, never again.”
Another Reddit user, ThatCanadianGuy88, wrote, “I’m 6 5. Most planes are not great for my knees but Rouge’s are among the worst.”
Reddit user voidsinger agreed that he had felt “squeezed” and posted a picture of his knees colliding with the seat in front of him. “I’m a tall guy … this is ridiculous.” Reddit user Traveler0731 commented on the post, saying, “That’s why it is called Rouge. It is the colour of your knees when the flight is over.”
“I was rouged a few weeks ago, and I called AC to complain,” wrote Reddit user sterauds. “They started with the ‘same product’ story, but I told them I’d flown both before, that I was tall, that my flying companion was also tall, and we chose an itinerary with (Air) Canada despite a (slightly) cheaper Rouge option at the time of booking.
“I explained that having been in both seats they were definitely not the same product,” wrote sterauds. “They were quite accommodating and reworked my itinerary (and cut down on some transfer time as well) at no extra charge.”
The Rouge planes are a relic of another time, said John Gradek, faculty lecturer in aviation management at McGill University. Rouge was introduced in 2012 to compete with low-cost carriers Swoop and Lynx, he added.
Rouge was meant to serve as a “leisure” budget-friendly alternative to Air Canada, offering reduced legroom and entertainment options, at a lower price, he added.
But now that the low-cost carriers have disappeared, Air Canada has integrated Rouge planes in the regular Air Canada schedule without reconfiguring the seats and layout, Gradek said.
When asked whether the airline should be compensating Rouge passengers for Air Canada to Rouge switches, Gradek said, “Of course.” However, the airline is not required to, given that there are no regulations in Canada regarding passenger comfort and seat pitch.
“There’s no compensation in the books, no refunding passengers anything,” he said. “Customer service has taken a back seat,” Gradek said. “No pun intended.”