Air Canada cuts share count, locks in labor peace, and deepens loyalty
Air Canada buys back 9.8% of its shares for $800 million Air Canada completed an $800 million buyback, repurchasing 27.6 million shares — about 9.8% of the company — leaving roughly 252.7 million shares outstanding, below pre-pandemic levels. Fewer shares means each remaining share represents a bigger slice of future profits, which supports the stock price. The buyback was funded by part of the Blackstone and La Caisse investment in Aeroplan.
This is the single largest capital action this period and directly lifts per-share value.
Labor peace secured with all major unions after IAM ratification Air Canada ratified a four-year deal with the machinists union covering 11,000 maintenance and support workers, effective through March 2030. With this, new contracts are in force with all major unions. That removes the risk of strikes or work stoppages that could ground flights and hurt revenue, giving the company a stable cost base to plan around.
Labor stability removes a major operational and financial risk that had hung over the stock.
Aeroplan loyalty program gets stronger with new partners and card perks Aeroplan partnered with World of Hyatt, letting members earn and redeem points across 1,500 hotels, and Chase refreshed its Aeroplan card with automatic 25K status, 5X points on Air Canada purchases, and 15% redemption savings. A more valuable loyalty program attracts more members and credit-card sign-ups, which brings in high-margin revenue and encourages repeat bookings.
Loyalty is a key profit engine for airlines, and these moves deepen customer lock-in and fee income.
Air Canada invests in sustainable fuel and electric regional aircraft Air Canada and Airbus committed about C$13.7 million to develop Canadian sustainable aviation fuel, and Air Canada has ordered 30 electric-hybrid ES-30 aircraft from Heart Aerospace, whose technology just passed a key flight test. These bets aim to cut future fuel costs and emissions, though the electric planes are not expected to fly commercially until the 2030s.
These investments address long-term fuel cost and environmental pressure, a structural driver for airlines.