Latest news with #MichaelRousseau
CNA
5 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Air Canada bookings for US routes down by 10% from a year ago: CEO
Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau weighs in on the impact of his country's diplomatic tensions with India, US in a conversation with CNA's Yasmin Jonkers at the IATA meeting in New Delhi. He outlines the benefits of diversifying trade away from the world's largest economy.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Airline traffic in Canada is up — just not to the United States
Traffic was up for both domestic and international flights at Canada's largest airports in April, with the exception of trips to the United States, according to Statistics Canada's monthly data on air passenger travel. Trans-border traffic to the U.S. dropped for the third month in a row to 1.1 millon, 5.8 per cent lower than in April 2024. Statistics Canada said trans-border passenger counts were also significantly lower (down 12.5 per cent) than the pre-pandemic level recorded in April 2019. Passengers travelling to the U.S. accounted for 25.5 per cent of the total number of screened passengers in April, down from the 28.1 per cent recorded in 2024. For the third straight month, all four of the largest airports recorded year-over-year decreases in screened passenger counts for flights to the United States. Outside of the U.S., however, the number of Canadians travelling internationally by air was 1.4 million in April — up 7.1 per cent over the same month in 2024, and sharply higher (up 19 per cent) than the pre-pandemic level posted in April 2019. Meanwhile, Canadians are also choosing to travel within the country. Domestic passenger traffic was up by 7.4 per cent to two million in April compared to the previous year. This modestly surpasses the 2019 pre-pandemic level by 1.5 per cent, said StatCan. Canada's eight largest airports, which includes Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International, Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International and Vancouver International, posted higher volumes of passenger traffic year over year in April. Overall, 4.5 million passengers were screened at the eight airports, up 3.6 per cent over 2024 and up 1.9 per cent over 2019. Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International posted the largest year-over-year increase, at 8.6 per cent. The decline in trans-border travel as Canadians forgo visits to the United States led major airline Air Canada to lower its financial forecast for the year. Early last month, Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau said the noise around tariffs and trade disputes 'definitely had an impact' on the widely reported decline in interest among Canadians for travel to the U.S. And in late May, WestJet Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech, speaking at a Calgary Chamber of Commerce event, said summer bookings were down by the 'mid-to-high teens' (percentage wise) from the same period last year. 'When all the rhetoric started around 51st state and tariffs and so on, we could see in our bookings how angry Canadians became,' he said. Preliminary April data released by Statcan last month showed that Canadians' air travel to and from the U.S. had dropped 19.9 per cent from 2024, while return trips via land were down 35.2 per cent. Air Canada lowers 2025 outlook as U.S. travel declines Canadians' return travel from U.S. plunges as Trump tariffs hit By the end of April, combined return trips from the U.S. (via air and road) had fallen 22 per cent from a year ago. • Email: dpaglinawan@
CNBC
7 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Business traffic to the U.S. is still strong: Air Canada CEO
Michael Rousseau, CEO of Air Canada joins CNBC's Monica Pitrelli at the IATA AGM to discuss travel demand into the U.S, and if the carrier has made any adjustments to its flight frequencies.
Business Insider
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Air Canada is offering triple points to entice wary Europeans to fly to North America
Air Canada is turning to loyalty-program promotions as Donald Trump's policies have led to a decline in traffic. On Monday morning, the airline's customers in the UK received an email offering triple the number of Aeroplan reward points for flights to Canada and the US. The promotion, which began a week earlier, is applicable to flights through December 15, as long as they're booked by the end of May. It comes after Canada's flag carrier reported reduced traffic figures in its first-quarter earnings last Thursday. "We did experience some turbulence in the first quarter, however, we managed all of it very effectively," CEO Michael Rousseau said in the earnings call. Passenger revenues on transatlantic flights were down 3.7% since the same period last year. The company said this was mostly because Easter fell in the second quarter, while some capacity was also redeployed toward the Middle East and India. Europeans have shown less interest in flying to the US since Trump took power, but Canada could prove to be an alternative destination. Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin previously told Bloomberg that European customers ditching the US were instead choosing to travel to Canada, South America, and Egypt. Air Canada may also be looking to attract more European customers to make up for its suffering transborder business. The points promotion also applies to flights via Canada that end in the US. Russo said bookings for flights between the two countries have declined by percentages in the low teens on average over the next six months. The company cited a weaker currency exchange rate for Canadians and "uncertainty relating to the imposition of US tariffs and related countermeasures." Operating revenues of 5.2 billion Canadian dollars, or around $3.7 billion, were down 1% from last year, and the airline lowered its profit forecast. However, losses per share of 0.45 Canadian dollars, roughly $0.32, weren't as bad as expected, and the airline also announced plans for a share buyback, which saw its stock price rise nearly 15% on Friday.
Toronto Star
09-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Air Canada lowers financial forecast amid declining cross-border travel
MONTREAL - Air Canada lowered its financial forecast for the year as travellers shy away from trips to the United States, pushing the country's largest airline to boost flight capacity outside America and rein in costs amid bigger quarterly losses. 'We observed a decline in interest among Canadians for travel to the U.S. The noise around tariffs and trade disputes definitely had an impact,' chief executive Michael Rousseau told analysts on a conference call Friday
