Transat CEO wants federal financial aid

MONTREAL—The head of Transat AT is calling on government for financial support so the travel company can refund passengers whose flights were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I say clearly to the various level of government, help us find a solution that is acceptable to all stakeholders, and we are all for it,” CEO Jean-Marc Eustache said.

Canadian airlines have generally offered travel credit instead of reimbursements for the hundreds of thousands of trips that never took place amid border shutdowns and quarantines.

Eustache’s remarks came as the tour operator reported a lost of $179.5 million for the quarter ended April 30, compared with a loss of less than $1 million a year earlier. Revenue in what was the Transat’s second quarter fell to $571.3 million compared with $897.4 million in the same quarter last year.

Transat said Thursday it would resume operations on July 23 after grounding its fleet on April 1, with plans to gradually start flying on 23 international routes and some domestic ones. However, Ottawa continues to require a 14-day quarantine for all arrivals, making travel outside the country a “non-starter” for Canadians, National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said.

Eustache stressed the contrast between Canada’s lack of sector-specific support and the billions in financial aid by other governments to justify the absence of refunds to Canadian customers.

“What is overlooked is that the government demand (for reimbursement) has been accompanied by assistance plans that are out of all proportion to what we have seen in Canada,” he said.