Company Watch - Air Canada.

For more company news, data and analysis, please go to: http://www.airguideonline.com/professional.htm Aug 14, 2006

Air Canada parent ACE Aviation's said Aeroplan and Jazz, in which ACE still has majority stakes, had become strong stand-alone firms and Air Canada, the world's 13th largest airline, should also thrive in what looks like a "generally good" industry environment. Aug 11, 2006

Air Canada Jazz reported a second-quarter net profit of C$36.6 million ($32.6 million), doubled from net income of C$18 million in the year-ago period, on a 47.1% jump in operating revenues to C$340.1 million. The Regional attributed the strong results to decreasing all unit costs except aircraft rent and fuel, which surged 91.5% to C$34 million, and a 27.8% increase in block hr. The growth is "mainly due to the eight CRJ200s, 12 CRJ705s and 24 CRJ100s that were received in the last half of 2005 and the first half of 2006," it said. Operating income rose 33.2% to $36.5 million as total expenses climbed 48.9% to $99.8 million. With the addition of the new aircraft, capacity grew 66.8% while CASM excluding fuel fell 18.2%. Aug 11, 2006

Air Canada parent ACE Aviation's outright sale of Air Canada Technical Services and the possibility of further offerings of equity in Aeroplan and Jazz, could eventually mean an end to the holding company structure, ACE Chief Executive Robert Milton said. Investors lauded the plan, driving ACE's B-series shares up CAD$2.09, or 7.5 percent, to CAD$29.99 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, their highest level in more than a month. Montreal-based ACE became Air Canada's publicly traded parent in October 2004 following the airline's lengthy restructuring under bankruptcy protection. The current plan is to reduce ACE's capital by up to CAD$2 billion (USD$1.8 billion) over an indefinite period. Shareholders are slated to meet and review the arrangement in October. The various operating entities can benefit from relationships with each other through operating contracts rather than cross ownership, executives said. Aug 11, 2006

Air Canada parent ACE Aviation's said its jump in second-quarter profit was aided by a big gain from the sale of US Airways shares and higher fares, which offset surging fuel costs. It earned CAD$236 million, up from CAD$169 million a year earlier. The latest quarter included a pretax gain of CAD$100 million on the sale of 3.25 million US Airways Group shares. Net income also included a foreign exchange gain of CAD$107 million. Operating income was CAD$181 million, up CAD$3 million from the second quarter of 2005. Revenue was CAD$2.7 billion, up 8 percent from CAD$2.5 billion. It said system-wide yield improved by 3 percent, despite an increase in fuel costs of CAD$101 million, or 19 percent, as the airline's capacity rose 3 percent. Most of the capacity increase was on international and Western Canadian routes. On Thursday, Aeroplan reported a 25 percent increase in net income and Jazz Air said profit jumped more than 50 percent. Aug 11, 2006

Air Canada Jazz won't be returning to Toronto City Centre Airport anytime soon following the Toronto Port Authority's refusal to approve a sublease that would have enabled the Regional to resume operations there. Jazz was evicted from Toronto City in March by its landlord, City Centre Aviation and failed in its attempt to stop the eviction through an injunction. The move cleared the way for startup Porter Airlines to launch operations there this fall. Porter is owned by Regco Holdings, which also owns City Centre Aviation. Jazz subsequently struck an agreement with Stolport Corp. to sublease facilities at the airport, but TPA refused to approve the arrangement. Aug 10, 2006

Air Canada Jazz launched daily CRJ service from Edmonton to Victoria, Calgary to Comox and Winnipeg to London, Ont., and twice-daily Edmonton-Kelowna flights. Aug 7, 2006

Air Canada parent ACE Aviation's ACTS, which maintains, repairs and overhauls aircraft, has generated weaker financial results than its sister units. Aug 11, 2006