Air Canada Named Winner in Finance for The 2017 Airline Strategy Awards

MONTREAL, July 12, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada was named winner in the Finance category of the 2017 Airline Strategy Awards, run by established air transport industry news and analysis provider, Flight Airline Business. The 16^th annual edition of the awards was presented at a recent event in London, England.

"Along with our ongoing fleet renewal and customer service enhancements, another major success at Air Canada has been our financial rejuvenation. We have de-risked our company by lowering costs, strengthening the balance sheet and restoring our pension plan, turning a solvency deficit into a $1.9 billion surplus - all of which have been reflected in recent 10-year-highs for Air Canada shares," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines, who accepted the Airline Strategy Award on behalf of Air Canada.

"Our strengthened financial position has allowed us to invest more in the customer experience. This includes acquiring new Boing 777 and 787 aircraft, expanding our international network with 11 new international routes this summer alone, and an increase to close to 45 million customers carried last year. Our efforts have also resulted in Air Canada being named the Best Airline in North America at the Skytrax World Airline Awards this summer."

In recognizing Air Canada's accomplishments, the Airline Strategy Awards said: "The turnaround reflects not only an improved business environment, but also a companywide initiative to address simultaneously several serious and inter-related financial challenges." For the full citation and more details on the award, visit www.strategyawards.com

The Airline Strategy Award for Finance is the latest of several awards won recently by Air Canada, including:

Best Airline in North America at the Skytrax World Airline Awards
One of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in North America for the second year in a row for its commitment to employee engagement by Achievers, an employee social recognition company
One of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" and One of "Montreal's Top Employers" for 2017, both for the fourth consecutive year, by MediaCorp Canada
One of Canada's top two "Most Attractive Employers", in April, 2017 by Randstad Canada

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 57 in the United States and 95 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,300 airports in 191 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada

CONTACT: Isabelle Arthur (Montréal), Isabelle.arthur@aircanada.ca, 514 422-5788; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), peter.fitzpatrick@aircanada.ca, 416 263-5576; Angela Mah (Vancouver), angela.mah@aircanada.ca, 604 270-5741; Internet: aircanada.com