AIR CANADA
Symbol: AC
10-year total return: 3,680%
If you had invested $10,000 it would be worth $378,000
Investors who bought Air Canada’s stock in 2010 and held onto it should be sending Chief Executive Officer Calin Rovinescu a thank-you card.
Canada’s largest airline found itself in yet another perilous position around 2010.
In addition to grappling with lower air travel demand in the wake of the financial crisis, the company was struggling with a massive pension shortfall and questions began to arise once again about its long-term viability.
Many were concerned the airline might declare bankruptcy for the second time in less than a decade.
Cue Rovinescu.
The CEO, who acted as Air Canada’s chief restructuring officer in 2003, has helped see the airline through pilot strikes, the resolution of labour disputes, complex technological changes, fleet and branding updates, changes in foreign ownership rules, volatile fuel prices and the rise of ultra-low-cost carriers, all while asserting Air Canada’s dominance in the Canadian and global airline industry.
Today, the company and its subsidiaries account for a little more than half of the Canadian airline market share – and that number is set to grow as the company remains on track to close its takeover of Transat A.T. in first half of 2020 pending regulatory approvals.
In a 2018 interview with BNN Bloomberg, Rovinescu said his executive team had been proud of the company’s financial results and stock market performance, but the biggest win has been the turnaround in the company’s culture.
“When you look back over the last decade, the amazing contribution – the amazing energy – that our team brings every day to actually transform our business has been the most satisfying aspect of it,” Rovinescu said.
Credit has been given where credit is due – Rovinescu was named Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year in 2016 and is being inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
Photo courtesy: Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press
