Weekly "Focus" and Travel Disruptions
Bradley Goldhar - Feb 24, 2023
Nothing like a winter storm...
Nothing like a winter storm to cause major travel disruptions with this week’s snow causing a large number of flight cancellations and delays in Toronto and many other cities across Canada and the United States. Good luck trying to get through to one of the airlines if you have to make alternative travel arrangements during a winter storm. The major North American airlines have seen a significant pick-up in bookings as it seems that everyone wants to start travelling again now that the Pandemic is over. Last week, Air Canada* reported their latest results and 4th quarter revenues were double year-over-year and even higher than the 4th quarter of 2019 (prior to the Pandemic) (ii). Challenging Air Canada’s profitability has been higher operating expenses and the shares sold off by 15% following their quarterly update trailing well behind the recent share price performance of other major North American airlines (i).
| Company (Symbol) | Price Return in 2023 | Dividend Yield |
| Air Canada (AC) | +3.2% | 0.0% |
| American Airlines Group (AAL) | +24.8% | 0.0% |
| Delta Air Lines (DAL) | +14.2% | 0.0% |
| United Airlines Holdings (UAL) | +34.2% | 0.0% |
Click on this week’s "Focus" digest from our economics team
Have a great weekend,
Brad
Bradley Goldhar | Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Advisor