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Air Canada’s stock closed up almost 14 per cent after it announced a share buyback program, an earnings beat and a higher earnings outlook.

The positives come despite a disruptive third quarter that saw pilot contract negotiations come down to the wire, creating uncertainty for travellers and helping push down both revenue and passenger volumes.

The new contract with pilots, which includes a cumulative 42 per cent wage hike over four years, is expected to put pressure on expenses next year, but chief executive Michael Rousseau said it was an achievement to reach a deal without having to go through a pilot strike.

“I am proud that we concluded a mutually beneficial agreement without significant disruption to customers and with a contained revenue impact,” he said on an earnings call Friday.

The potential for travel disruptions offset a longer-term growth trend to see passenger volumes fall 0.1 per cent, while revenue was down four per cent to $6.11 billion.

“We saw multiple weeks of softer booking volumes as some customers postponed or cancelled their itineraries while others chose to fly with other carriers,” said Mark Galardo, executive vice-president of revenue and network planning, on the call.

Profits were also impacted by competitive market pressure, along with lower demand to France because of the Olympics, but Galardo said overall the airline saw sustained strong international demand in the quarter.

The airline reported a profit of $2.04 billion, up from $1.25 billion in the same quarter last year, though that was significantly boosted by a one-time $1.15 billion income tax recovery in the quarter.

On an adjusted basis, Air Canada says it earned $2.57 per diluted share, down from an adjusted profit of $3.41 per diluted share a year earlier.

The adjusted profit was well above the $1.58 per diluted share expected by analysts, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

The profit beat came in above consensus on fuel and costs, noted RBC analyst James McGarragle.

The airline has also slightly boosted its earnings expectations for 2024, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization expected to total about $3.5 billion, up from earlier guidance for between $3.1 billion and $3.4 billion.

Air Canada also announced a share buyback program covering about 10 per cent of outstanding shares, which it said was to counter some of the share dilution the airline went through during the pandemic.

The combination of news helped push up Air Canada’s stock by $2.64, or 13.99 per cent, to $21.51 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

In its outlook, the airline said it now expects its capacity measured by available seat miles for 2024 to be up about five per cent from 2023 compared with earlier expectations for growth of 5.5 to 6.5 per cent.

Galardo said the reduction was because of a combination of supply chain pressures, aircraft availability and geopolitical pressures, while the airline will be watching to see whether other factors push down demand.

“Although demand is strong, we’ll be watching the effects from rising hotel costs and foreign exchange which may impact the coming winter season.”

Air Canada also said it now expects its adjusted cost per available seat mile to be up about two per cent from 2023, compared with earlier expectations for growth of 2.5 to 3.5 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

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MONTREAL – A Quebec civil rights group is suing the office of the registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada because of the high court’s refusal to translate its historic decisions into French.

Droits collectifs Québec says it filed an application today in Federal Court after failing to get the office of the registrar — which serves as the administrative body for the court — to conform to the Official Languages Act.

The lawsuit involves more than 6,000 decisions that were rendered between 1877 and 1969, the year the Official Languages Act came into effect, requiring federal institutions to publish content in English and in French.

The Supreme Court has been translating decisions since 1970 but has argued to the official languages commissioner that the law doesn’t apply retroactively.

But the commissioner ruled in September that while that’s true, any decisions published on the court’s website must be available in both official languages.

The Quebec rights group says it has applied to the Federal Court to force the Supreme Court to abide by the language commissioner’s ruling.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the lawsuit involves decisions between 1867 and 1969. In fact, the time period is between 1877 and 1969.

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s premier is apologizing after a court criticized his government for what it calls a flawed, discriminatory and unfair process that led to two women being rejected for coverage of out-of-province treatments.

In a decision released today, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Timothy Gabriel overturned the province’s “unreasonable” refusals to reimburse Jennifer Brady, who has painful lymphedema in her legs, and Crystal Ellingsen, who suffers from lipedema in her legs and arms, for their treatments.

Brady’s condition causes tissue to swell from the accumulation of fluids normally drained through the body’s lymphatic system, and Ellingsen had asked the province to fund surgery to remove diseased tissue, increase her mobility and relieve chronic pain.

In his decision, Gabriel says the province’s review of their cases wasn’t transparent and was replete with errors, and the rejection was unreasonable because “in reality, there was nobody in Canada who could treat either of their conditions.”

The judge ordered the parties to submit potential solutions to him, now that he has quashed the original refusals.

Progressive Conservative Premier Tim Houston, who is seeking re-election on Nov. 26, said in a statement that he agrees the women were mistreated, adding that the province will repay both women for their medical and legal expenses to date and will fund the further treatment that is needed to manage Brady’s ongoing condition.

He said he has also written to the auditor general requesting she do a thorough review of the manner in which the Health Department handles these kinds of requests, and that she commission a review of the province’s system for approving out-of-province treatments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

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