Kip Powick Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Air Canada fills seats faster than WestJet ALLAN SWIFT CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL — Air Canada outpaced rival WestJet Airlines in terms of filling its airplanes during the month of September, the airlines reported today. One analyst said it appears there is more customer resistance to WestJet increasing its air fares due to high fuel costs than there is at Air Canada. Air Canada said it achieved its highest passenger load factor ever for the month of September, at 80.4 per cent, compared with 79.2 per cent in September 2004, its 18th consecutive month of record load factors. WestJet’s load factor for this September dropped to 70.9 per cent compared with 71.3 per cent for September 2004, as the Calgary-based airline added more capacity. The news sent the airlines’ stock in different directions, as Air Canada’s parent Ace Aviation Holdings Inc. climbed five cents to $34.90 on the Toronto stock market in midday trading while WestJet dropped 35 cents to $11. The load factor refers to the proportion of an airplane’s seats that are occupied, a key measure of efficiency. Air Canada’s traffic grew faster than its capacity in the month, as it flew 8.8 per cent more revenue passenger miles in September 2005, a total traffic measure of all flights and distances, than in September 2004. The figures for Air Canada do not include its Jazz regional airline sister company, both part of holding ACE Aviation (TSX:ACE.. WestJet (TSX:WJA) said its latest month recorded a 17.6 per cent traffic increase over September 2004. Analyst Steve Garmaise with Genuity Capital Markets said one month’s results do not make a trend but consumers aren’t reacting positively to WestJet’s price hikes. “We continue to suspect that after the recent peak summer travel season, WestJet is having more trouble than Air Canada in filling its aircraft at the new higher fares,” Garmaise said. WestJet also announced it will buy an additional Boeing 737-700 by converting a purchase option with Boeing into a firm order. The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in December 2006. WestJet is scheduled to take delivery of 10 Boeing 737-600s and two 737-700s in 2006, with financing support from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AME Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 The figures for Air Canada do not include its Jazz regional airline sister company, both part of holding ACE Aviation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaEH Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 The Halifax-based carrier's load factor rose to 69 per cent from 66.2 per cent. Why was Jazz not calculated in AC's load factor? It always has been, hasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinnaker Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Just an assumption but maybe it was underway to seperate the two since Jazz was slated for an IPO/Trust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Why was Jazz not calculated in AC's load factor? It always has been, hasn't it? Why does Westjet not break down its monthlies into domestic, transborder and charter stats? The answer is, to each his own. And no, AC has listed Jazz separately since 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canus Chinookus Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 does AC break it down like you suggest WJ should? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moeman Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Yes. http://www.stockhouse.ca/news/news.asp?new...6053&tick=ACE.B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manwest Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Yes. http://www.stockhouse.ca/news/news.asp?new...6053&tick=ACE.B Well yes and no............ AIR CANADA MAINLINE (Includes Jetz) Jetz is the sports charters I believe. Does not mention a breakdown for AC sun charter flights. Jazz flights all lumped together. ACE AVIATION HOLDINGS INC. REGIONAL (Jazz) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEPTEMBER YEAR-TO-DATE -------------------------------------------------------- 2005 2004 Change 2005 2004 Change ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Traffic (RPMs millions) 231 137 +68.6% 1,730 1,277 +35.5% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Capacity (ASMs millions) 335 207 +61.8% 2,420 2,028 +19.3% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Load Factor 69.0% 66.2% +2.8 pts 71.5% 63.0% +8.5 pts ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> But hey whats the big deal, bottom line profit is the main number. It doesn't matter how many bums are on what seat going where, the bottom line is profit generated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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