Airlines fill more seats

Air Canada dodges March labour woes

TORONTO – Air Canada managed to buck a wildcat strike and looming threat of labour disruptions throughout March to fill its planes last month more than it did a year ago.

On the back of robust demand, Air Canada said its traffic rose five per cent last month on capacity increases of 2.2 per cent, resulting in a load factor — or average percentage of seats filled on its planes — of 81.5 per cent, up two percentage points year over year.

The carrier’s overall traffic increases were led by doubledigit traffic growth across the Atlantic, yet fell short of the nine-per-cent gain at rival Westjet Airlines Ltd. Still, the increases were strong given the looming threat of a labour disruption over March break and a wildcat strike that grounded dozens of planes the following week.

Cameron Doerksen, a National Bank Financial analyst, said it remains to be seen whether Air Canada’s labour troubles will hurt its future bookings or its financial results.

“We’ll have to see what the pricing and cost is to Air Canada,” he said, adding that there are things the carrier can do to boost its loads, such as cancel and consolidate flights.

“People may be also turned off by the events of March, but that doesn’t impact bookings until future months,” he added.

But Doerksen acknowledged consumers tend to have a short memory and book air travel based on price and convenience.

“If there’s someone out there saying that there’s a threat of a strike in a week’s time, and you’re looking to book, that might be a different story,” he said.

“I’m not sure it’s going to linger that long for Air Canada.”

What makes the March figures more impressive for both Westjet and Air Canada is that they appear to be supported by fare increases, according to Doerksen’s weekly fare survey.