Air Canada’s latest quarter was impacted by a decline in U.S. bookings amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies but the airline’s outlook for the next three years remains robust, despite seeing revenue fall in the first quarter one per cent from the previous year to $5.2 billion.
“The first quarter typically, is seasonally a more difficult quarter generally for Air Canada and the strength of our airline is really through Q2, Q3 and a little bit of Q4,” said John Di Bert, executive vice-president and chief financial officer at Air Canada, in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday.
The company says it is investing in new aircrafts and technology to reduce costs and diminish the impact of declining cross-border travel.
Di Bert says that while Air Canada lowered its financial forecast for the rest of 2025, the company remains confident on its 2028 goals, including its ambitious plan to reach $30 billion in revenue.
“We have an incredible franchise, with very strong foundation. We have incredible brands such as Aeroplan, Air Canada Vacations… and we continue to expand our ability to serve customers.”
A strong balance sheet and high liquidity will also contribute to Air Canada reaching its 2028 goals, according to Di Bert.
“We are looking to drive profitability, investing in the fleet while we return capital to investors,” he added.
FOCUSING ON COST IMPROVEMENT
While operating expenses for the quarter were impacted by foreign exchange, fuel prices and other uncontrollable costs, Air Canada says it continues work to reduce costs by making “very significant investments in technology” such as back-office software improvements, which will allow the company to be more productive.
Additionally, Di Bert said Air Canada is betting on new aircraft, welcoming three new additions to its fleet.
“This will be best in class, modern aircraft. Fuel economics are fantastic,” added Di Bert.
The company says the new fleet will aim to increase flight capacity and help reduce costs:
- The Airbus A220 will connect Air Canada’s “sixth freedom” franchise allowing it to carry American travellers via Canadian hubs to transatlantic destinations
- The Airbus 321XLR, a smaller size aircraft will allow Air Canada to remove seasonality in its fleet by allowing flights from Toronto and Montreal to Europe during the winter months
- The Boeing 787-10 is expected to fuel Air Canada’s travel capacity by fueling its ability to connect a larger network of international destinations
Air Canada says it is also planning to increase its seat mile capacity, a key metric reflecting its passenger carrying capacity, in the second quarter by up to 2.5 per cent.
“We are receiving aircrafts during the year; those aircrafts are going into service. This is strategically planned years ahead.”
While Air Canada’s travel demand is expected to remain challenged for the rest of 2025 due to economic uncertainty, Di Bert added “we have great growth plans for 2026, 2027 and 2028.”
