Canadians' travel appetite still healthy, but desire to visit U.S. fading: Transat

An Air Transat Airbus A330 is silhouetted against the full moon when approaching for landing in Lisbon just before sunrise, Monday, July 22, 2024. Travel company Transat A.T. Inc. reported a first-quarter net loss of $122.5 million, compared with a loss of $61 million in the same quarter last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Armando Franca

MONTREAL — The head of Transat A.T. Inc. says Canadians' appetite for travel remains unsated even as pocketbook worries grow amid a trade war with the United States.

Travellers continue to book transatlantic flights with the tour company, said CEO Annick Guérard, though she acknowledged demand for American destinations dropped sharply over the past few months.

“Besides the U.S. market ... we have not seen — yet — other negative impacts on our booking curve following tariff announcements,” Guérard said.

“We are well aware that the current environment is affecting overall consumer confidence, and this could eventually affect travel demand. But we haven’t seen any impact over the last weeks.”

Transat currently flies to only two U.S. destinations, in Florida. But those nearly 300 trips per month, while shorter and lower priced, still make up nearly 12 per cent of its total flights.

The company also opted to cut capacity to the state by about 10 per cent last month as bookings declined amid the backlash to tariff threats levelled by U.S. President Donald Trump as well as a weak loonie, according to figures from aviation data tracker Cirium.

The mood of uncertainty hanging over the North American economy may result in more last-minute bookings as customers consider whether to spend their weaker Canadian currency on travel, or if they want to visit a country whose leader has launched annexation threats and 25 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian goods.

“People potentially will hesitate before making any bookings,” Guérard said, pointing to the “unstable economic environment.”

“Things are looking good, for now” — with bookings, at least.

Planes are another story. Air Transat’s fleet continued to be deprived of six to seven planes over the winter, depending on the week.

The airline is one of many hit by a recall of turbofans from aircraft engine giant Pratt & Whitney.

“We continue to actively manage the severe negative impact caused by Pratt and Whitney GTF engine issues,” said Guérard, adding that she expected the groundings to persist through the year.

Transat reported a net loss of $122.5 million in its first quarter, double the $61-million in losses from the same period the year before. However, its adjusted net loss of $75 million marked a mild improvement from a $76-million loss a year earlier. Unfavourable foreign exchange rates help explain the worse performance on net losses, the company said.

On an adjusted basis, Transat said it lost $1.90 per share in the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with an adjusted loss of $1.97 per share in the same three months last year.

Revenue for the quarter rose nearly six per cent year-over-year to $829.5 million from $785.5 million.

The increase came as traffic expressed in revenue passenger miles — a metric tallying the number of miles travelled by paying customers — rose one per cent year-over-year.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2025.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press