Air Canada has reported a second quarter net loss of $386 million or ($1.60) per diluted share on a nearly five-fold year-over-year increase in revenue to $3.98 billion. At June 30, 2022, the company had unrestricted liquidity of over $10.5 billion.
On Tuesday (August 2, 2022), Air Canada reported their second quarter financial results for the period ending June 30, 2022. The carrier reported a second quarter net loss of $386 million or ($1.60) per diluted share, compared to a Q2 2021 net loss of $1.17 billion or ($3.31) per diluted share. Air Canada’s second quarter revenue increased year-over-year by nearly five times to $3.98 billion. The company’s cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased to 20.8 cents compared to 49.3 cents for the second quarter of 2021. At June 30, 2022, Air Canada had over $10.5 billion in unrestricted liquidity, and net debt of approximately $7.0 billion.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Air Canada’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Rousseau, said,
“The past three months have been very challenging for our company, our employees, and customers from an operational perspective. The path to recovery from any serious event is rarely straight and easy. I thank our employees for their incredibly hard work, demonstrated professionalism and commitment as we safely transported over 9.1 million customers in the quarter, nearly 8 million more than the second quarter of 2021 or about 70% of total customers carried in the full year 2021.
“The industry worldwide is facing unprecedented conditions as it emerges from pandemic-related restrictions. The situation is particularly challenging in Canada, where we have gone from a near two-year shutdown of air travel to rebuilding our capacity back to close to 80 per cent of 2019 levels in just a few months. Despite meticulous planning and projecting, participants involved in the air transport system are facing significant pressure in restarting. We continue to work together to restore the travel experience to expectations and are encouraged by recent improvements.
“From a financial perspective, we are pleased with our results as we generated $154 million of EBITDA in the quarter, a significant increase from a negative quarterly EBITDA of $656 million a year ago, and operating revenues neared $4 billion in the quarter, an improvement of about $3.1 billion from the second quarter of 2021. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, 2022 second quarter advance ticket sales reached 94 per cent of those in the same quarter of 2019. In the second quarter, our operating capacity, measured by available seat miles, was 73 per cent of the same quarter in 2019, and despite the lower capacity, passenger revenues were 80 per cent of those generated in the second quarter of 2019, driven by higher yields.
“We expected travel would rebound significantly once restrictions were lifted and prepared accordingly. We entered the peak summer travel period at close to 90 per cent of our pre-pandemic staffing levels, while prudently planning to operate approximately 80 per cent of our pre-pandemic schedule over that period. In the second quarter of 2022, we delivered a load factor of 80.5%, representing a significant improvement from the second quarter of 2021 levels but still declined about four percentage points from the second quarter of 2019. To further support the industry's recovery efforts and mitigate the short-term impact on customers and employees, we recently took additional steps to flatten peaks and smooth the flow of traffic, by proactively reducing our schedule over July and August.
“Finally, while many participants play a unique and essential role in the air transport system, we recognize that our customers experience these interconnected efforts as a single journey. We are working closely with our service providers and governments to keep addressing the issues aviation is facing in Canada and globally. We acknowledge the inconveniences and disruptions some of our customers have faced, and we deeply regret this. This is not business as usual for us. We thank our customers for their understanding and the loyalty they are showing to Air Canada in these unprecedented times.”
In a separate press release on the carrier’s Q2 cargo results, Air Canada Cargo’s Vice President, Jason Berry, said,
“It has been another exciting quarter for Air Canada Cargo as we continue to strategically build our business and invest in our future. The ongoing growth and support from the forwarding community across our global network has been a key to fueling our future. Our careful and targeted investments in our freighter fleet and our self-handled cargo-only ground operations in our major hubs throughout Canada and internationally together with staying laser focused on our quality of service to the vast forwarding community we serve, are key strategies as we continue to strengthen and grow as North America’s only combination carrier.
“The second of our Boeing 767 converted freighters entered service and we took delivery of two brand new 767 freighters from the Boeing factory, and they will enter service in 2023. Today, we announced a further expansion of our fleet with the acquisition of two factory-built Boeing 777 freighters, to enter service in 2024. The news today is a testament to the amazing work of our employees and partners and I would like to thank them all for their continuing efforts to transform our business. The investment in long range widebody freighters, combined with our growing 767 freighter fleet and robust passenger network will allow us continue to bring to life the most flexible and diverse cargo operation in the Americas. On the ground, we are continuing to make considerable investments in facilities, technology and our people to prepare us for the growth that lies ahead.”
Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline. The Canadian flag carrier is a founding member of the Star Alliance and the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking from Skytrax. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service to 51 airports in Canada, 51 in the U.S. and 86 internationally. Through the carrier’s Aeroplan loyalty program, customers can earn and redeem points on the world’s largest airline partner network of 45 airlines. Air Canada Cargo offers air freight lift and connectivity to hundreds of destinations across six continents with a dedicated fleet of 767-300 Freighters and passenger aircraft belly hold capacity. Additionally, the airline has committed to a net zero emissions goal from all global operations by 2050.
Source: Air Canada/CNW Telbec