Air Canada Balances Macro Uncertainty and Labor Cost Growth With Fleet Efficiency Efforts

Roughly 73% of Air Canada's 2024 passenger revenue came from trips that began or ended outside of Canada, with just under 22% from flights to or from the US. Air Canada capitalizes on so-called sixth-freedom traffic, which connects long-haul international routes to the US via layover in a Canadian airport. While we think Air Canada came into the covid crisis in better financial shape than many of its US-based peers, its international exposure and prolonged travel restrictions in the Canadian market placed it under comparably more financial stress.