Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat is pulling out of the United States market, cancelling its remaining flights to Florida from Montreal and Quebec City as cross border demand continues to slide. The move will see services to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale wound down through the spring of 2026, leaving the airline with no regular United States routes by mid June and marking a significant shift in transborder travel options for Canadian vacationers.

What Air Transat Is Cancelling and When

Air Transat has removed its last three United States routes from future schedules, effectively ending its presence south of the border. Flights between Montreal Trudeau and Orlando International Airport are scheduled to operate for the final time on May 4, 2026. Service between Quebec City Jean Lesage and Fort Lauderdale Hollywood will conclude on May 30, 2026, while the Montreal to Fort Lauderdale route will continue slightly longer, with final operations planned for June 13, 2026.

These Florida services, primarily geared toward sun seeking leisure travelers, were the last remaining pieces of a once larger United States network that included up to nine routes at its peak in 2025. Over the past year, the carrier has been gradually trimming frequencies and cutting thinner routes as forward bookings weakened and yields came under pressure. What is unfolding this spring is not a sudden retreat, but the culmination of a phased withdrawal that has steadily reduced Air Transat’s American footprint to virtually zero.

For now, the only exceptions to this full scale retreat are two seasonal flights scheduled in December 2026 to San Juan in Puerto Rico, a United States territory that Air Transat serves as more of a Caribbean style holiday destination than a traditional transborder market. The airline has not yet confirmed whether those limited services will return beyond the upcoming winter season.

The cancellations will be especially visible in Quebec, where Florida has long been one of the most popular winter getaways. Montreal and Quebec City residents have relied on nonstop flights to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale for easy access to theme parks, cruise departures and snowbird communities along the Atlantic coast. At peak season, Air Transat operated up to two daily flights on some of these routes, reflecting robust cold weather demand.

By early summer 2026, those direct links on Air Transat will disappear. Travelers in Montreal heading to central or south Florida will need to turn to other carriers, connect through larger hubs, or in some cases start their journeys from alternative Canadian cities. For Quebec City, where air service options are more limited than Montreal, the loss of Fort Lauderdale flights eliminates a convenient nonstop that had helped funnel passengers to cruises and vacations throughout the Caribbean basin.

The timing of the cuts, clustered after the peak winter travel period and ending by June, underscores how tightly Air Transat is now aligning its schedule with seasonal demand. While winter 2025 2026 still saw solid volumes to Florida, particularly around school breaks and holidays, the airline’s planners appear unconvinced that shoulder season and summer traffic can support the rising costs associated with United States operations.

Air Transat’s Strategy: Refocusing on Core Markets

Air Transat has framed the decision as part of a broader strategic refocus rather than an isolated retrenchment. The company emphasizes that the United States currently accounts for only about 1 percent of its total capacity when measured in seat kilometers, with just two of its 67 destinations located in the country. In contrast, its core network is centered on sun destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean and transatlantic services from eastern Canada to major European gateways.

Executives argue that concentrating aircraft and crews on markets where Air Transat is strongest allows the airline to deploy its resources more efficiently. Routes to Cancun, Punta Cana and other resort hotspots continue to perform well, driven both by package holiday demand and independent travelers seeking nonstop options from Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto. At the same time, the airline is opening new long haul and niche routes to destinations such as Senegal, Albania and Iceland, leveraging its leisure focused brand and wide body fleet.

In this context, Florida and other United States routes stand out as relatively small, higher cost pieces of the network that offer limited strategic advantage. With competition from larger Canadian and American carriers and rising airport and regulatory costs, returning those aircraft to more profitable or fast growing markets fits a pattern seen across the global airline industry, where carriers are tightening their focus on core strengths in the face of economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

Why Demand for Canada United States Travel Is Declining

The retreat from the United States by Air Transat and other Canadian airlines is rooted in a broader slump in cross border travel. Government and industry data show that trips between Canada and the United States have fallen sharply since early 2025. Airline schedules for winter and spring 2026 reveal that carriers are operating significantly fewer flights and offering fewer seats on transborder routes than a year earlier, reversing what many analysts had expected to be a continued post pandemic recovery.

Multiple factors are driving this shift. Economically, higher interest rates, persistent inflation and a weaker Canadian dollar have made discretionary travel more expensive for many households. A family contemplating a Florida vacation now faces steeper airfares, pricier hotels and elevated rental car rates, all of which can push the trip out of reach or shift demand toward closer or more affordable alternatives, including all inclusive packages in the Caribbean and Mexico.

Political and policy tensions have also chilled some travelers’ enthusiasm for United States trips. Trade tariffs and tough rhetoric from Washington toward Ottawa have created a climate of uncertainty that spills into the tourism sector. New border requirements, enhanced biometric data collection and reports of longer processing times at crossings may further dissuade spontaneous or frequent short visits. While such measures are framed as security and trade tools, they can feel like friction at the traveler level, nudging Canadians to look elsewhere when planning holidays.

Impact on Travelers from Montreal and Quebec City

For travelers in Montreal, Quebec City and the wider Quebec region, the loss of Air Transat’s Florida flights is both a practical inconvenience and a symbolic change in long familiar travel patterns. For decades, direct flights from Quebec to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale have been synonymous with winter escapes and spring break rituals, with aircraft often filled with families in theme park attire or retirees heading to condominium communities along the Florida coast.

In the short term, passengers who already hold reservations on affected flights will be reprotected onto other services, rerouted through partner carriers or offered refunds, depending on the timing of their trips and the conditions of their tickets or vacation packages. Travel agents across Quebec are working to rebook clients for late spring and early summer departures, and many expect increased reliance on larger carriers that maintain a more extensive United States network.

Longer term, leisure travelers may face fewer nonstop options and more connections, particularly from Quebec City, where alternative carriers and frequencies are limited. Some may opt to depart from Montreal or even cross the border by car to fly from airports in northern New York state or Vermont, though that adds time and complexity to what was once a simple point to point journey. Others will pivot to destinations still well served from Quebec, such as Cancun, Varadero or Punta Cana, where nonstop charter style and scheduled flights remain plentiful.

Broader Market Context: Other Airlines Are Cutting Too

Air Transat’s decision does not occur in a vacuum. Other Canadian airlines have been trimming United States routes and capacity as well, confirming that the challenges are systemic rather than airline specific. WestJet has cut multiple transborder routes from cities including Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Montreal and Toronto, leading to double digit percentage reductions in United States seat capacity for peak summer months compared to the previous year.

Industry schedule data show that total flights between Canada and the United States are down compared with early 2025, with an even steeper decline in available seats as carriers deploy smaller aircraft or reduce frequencies. At the same time, capacity to overseas destinations and sun markets in the Caribbean and South America has been ramping up, suggesting that airlines are reallocating aircraft toward segments where demand has remained more resilient.

This rebalancing has implications beyond leisure travelers. Business and cross border family travel, which often depends on frequent, year round schedules, can also feel the pinch as route maps shrink. However, airlines have signaled that until there is a clear and sustained rebound in demand across the Canada United States corridor, they will maintain a cautious stance on restoring or adding transborder capacity, prioritizing markets that deliver stronger load factors and yields.

What It Means for the Future of Canada United States Air Travel

The exit of Air Transat from the United States market raises broader questions about the future of air travel between Canada and its largest neighbor. While no one expects transborder traffic to vanish, the current contraction reveals how sensitive this market is to shifts in economics, policy and traveler sentiment. If tariffs, political frictions and additional border measures remain in place, the recovery of casual leisure travel could lag other segments for years.

For airports in Florida and other United States states that rely on Canadian visitors, the loss of Air Transat flights is a warning sign. Fewer direct services typically translate to fewer tourists, less spending in local economies and reduced demand for hotels, rental cars and attractions. Tourism boards and airport authorities may seek new partnerships or incentives to lure Canadian carriers back, but airlines will require clear evidence of stronger demand and an improved operating environment before committing scarce aircraft.

On the Canadian side, the shift could further entrench a pattern in which overseas holidays and southbound trips to non United States sun destinations capture a growing share of leisure spending. If travelers become accustomed to choosing the Caribbean, Mexico or emerging markets in South America, Africa and Europe over Florida and other United States states, rebuilding the old transborder travel habits may prove difficult even if economic and political conditions improve.

Advice for Travelers Planning 2026 and 2027 Trips

For readers considering trips between Quebec and Florida in late 2026 or 2027, the key takeaway is to plan early and stay flexible. With Air Transat’s exit, nonstop options will be more limited and competition on remaining routes may drive fares higher during peak periods. Booking well ahead of school holidays and key winter dates can help secure better prices and itineraries, while being open to connecting through Canadian or United States hubs may expand the range of viable options.

Travelers who value simplicity and nonstop flights may also want to broaden their destination search. The same aircraft that once ferried Quebec travelers to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale are increasingly serving Caribbean islands, Mexican resorts and even farther flung destinations. For many families, the tradeoff between a direct flight to a beach resort and a more complex journey to a Florida theme park may tilt in favor of the former, especially when packages bundle airfare, accommodation and transfers at competitive rates.

As always, monitoring airline schedule changes and staying in close contact with travel advisors is essential in a shifting market. Carriers across North America are adjusting their networks more frequently than in the past, responding to demand signals and macroeconomic conditions in near real time. In this environment, flexibility on dates, routes and even destinations will be a valuable asset for anyone determined to keep exploring, regardless of how the Canada United States air travel landscape evolves.