Pain at the pump

Good morning. Wouldn't it be nice if we could extend that long weekend to...an entire month? 👀 As of March 2021, over 50% of workers have experienced burnout, up 9% from pre-pandemic levels. One workplace, a non-profit outlet called Scalawag Magazine, gave its staff a full month of paid time off to rest and rejuvenate, and it sounds incredible. 

In this edition:🛫 Travel chaos ⛽️ Pain at the pump

— Vindhya Kolluru, Editor

TRAVEL

Struggle in the skies 😪

By now, you have probably heard about the hot mess that is air travel right now: People are ready to get back to the skies, but the skies are not ready for them. 

The trouble is on the ground at both departures and arrivals: passengers, airports and airline workers are struggling to get back to pre-pandemic travel due in part to severe staffing shortages.  

Here’s a breakdown of what’s happened in the past week:

On the airport front: If you have travelled since April, the chances that your flight was bumped or cancelled are high, and predictions expect this to continue all summer.

Around 54% of domestic flights to some of Canada’s busiest airports were either pushed back or cancelled, mostly due to a shortage of security screeners and a surge in the number of air travellers.

• The union representing most security screeners across Canada reports that improving working hours and conditions must be a priority, or that they will continue to lose staff. There are also concerns that dropping vaccine mandates for domestic travel will create unsafe working conditions, and prompt more workers to quit. 

On the airline front: In a late night email to customers, Air Canada, Canada’s largest carrier, announced it would cut around 10-15% of its summer flight schedule (or 9,500 flights), most of which will be to and from Toronto and Montreal. Meanwhile, WestJet will operate 25% fewer flights in the summer months.

On the passenger front: From Quebec to B.C. to Ontario, travellers are camping outside of passport offices to get or renew their passports in time for the busy travel season. But the pent-up demand built up during the pandemic combined with staffing shortages (surprise, surprise) at the offices is resulting in arduous wait times.

But the root issue remains: “It creates a bottleneck and congestion and to some extent, it’s a bit of a nightmare,” Philippe Rainville, CEO of Aéroports de Montréal, told Global News on the lack of baggage handlers at airports, but really, Rainville’s statement can be applied to the staffing shortages at other parts of airports and passport offices. 

In the meantime: 1) If you have to travel by air this summer, be kind to your fellow passengers and airport and airline workers. 2) Here are some useful pointers for planning your trip. 

— Hannah Rosen 

On our radar 

• AnnMarie Mercer has been named Chief People Officer of Walmart Canada, in one of two leadership changes at the retailer.

• Texas-based True Wealth Ventures, run by Sara Brand and Kerry Rupp, closed a US$35 million fund to help support women-led start-ups. Globally, women make up less than 3% of partners at venture capital, or VC, firms. And as of 2019, 13.5% of partners at Canadian VC firms are women.

• FrontApp, a San Fransisco-based customer communication platform, raised US$65 million in a Series D round led by Salesforce Ventures and Battery Ventures. The co-founder and CEO of FrontApp, Mathilde Collin, published the deck that helped them secure the bag.

SUPPLY CHAINS

Fuel prices are getting out of hand 

Rising fuel prices due to low oil supplies are having dire consequences for retailers and people around the world. 

What's happening: With the average gas price at $2 a litre in most parts of Canada, we don't blame you if you opted to stay indoors over the long weekend. But in some other parts of the world, the jump in fuel costs has been much more acute and the consequences more dramatic, according to The New York Times. 

• In Ghana, police fired tear gas at demonstrators protesting the rising cost of living (including gas prices).

• In Nigeria, where consumer prices have risen 17.7% on an annual basis (versus Canada's 7.7%), stylists are using flashlights on their phones to save on electricity.

• In Manila, high prices for gas are cutting into profits of drivers who pick up passengers in minibuses called jeepneys, forcing them to quit their jobs in search of other gigs. 

Retailers have been feeling the pinch, too: Canadian retailers, such as Indigo, are shelling out more to pay for fuel surcharges on top of the costs of shipping goods within the country. But don't worry, Retail Council of Canada spokeswoman Michelle Wasylyshen told the Canadian Press that, for now at least, retailers are reluctant to pass on those extra costs to customers, adding that retailers are looking to find savings elsewhere. 

• In the U.S., retailers such as Target, Walmart and Gap are even considering letting shoppers keep their unwanted items instead of returning them to save on shipping costs. 

Zoom out: In June, the powerful oil cartel OPEC and its allies agreed to boost oil production by 50% more than expected this summer. But still, it will take more time for global oil supplies to catch up to demand and for prices to stabilize. 

FYI: For a more detailed explanation of what's going on with oil prices, we recommend this Vox explainer. 

— Vindhya Kolluru 

Overheard

“I have to strike a balance. One is supporting Canadians with affordability challenges and the other is fiscal restraint because I don’t want to make the Bank of Canada’s job harder than it already is.” — Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland

In an interview with CBC, Freeland spoke to the challenges of balancing the interests of Canadians and the Bank of Canada's monetary policy. In mid-June, Freeland laid out an $8.9 billion plan to help Canadians cope with the soaring costs of goods by boosting funding for certain federal benefit programs. 

Other things we read and we liked 

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😀 We could all use a little bit of joy during *these* times, so we have the perfect thing for you.

💰 Five pieces of financial advice for challenging times from Chatelaine. 

🍟 Did you know that McDonald's isn't just a fast-food chain? Much of its success can be attributed to its real estate business.