Operations at Montreal-Trudeau airport should go 'smoothly' this summer: executive

There shouldn't be a repeat of the chaotic situation at Montreal-Trudeau this summer, says the head of Montreal Airport (ADM), but he does foresee complications in the medium term.

"Everyone is focused on operations to ensure that we have the capacity," said president and CEO Philippe Rainville in a press scrum on the sidelines of ADM's annual meeting. "I'm confident about the summer."

ADM anticipates that there will be 10 per cent to 15 per cent more passengers this summer than pre-pandemic (2019) levels. Despite the increase, Rainville believes that "the whole system should work smoothly."

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He says ADM and its partners have learned from last summer's disruptions. "Everyone has added resources. Everyone has made system additions," he said.

The comments come as Canadian airports experienced several delays in March, raising doubts about their readiness for another busy summer season.

In March, Montreal's airport had a punctuality rate of about 68 per cent, compared with 80 per cent in March 2019, according to data from aviation data company OAG.

Rainville is more concerned about the period between 2025 and 2027, before the end of the work on the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) station. "We will have to make this transition. These will be more difficult years," he said.

It will be up to the person who succeeds him to manage this difficult period, since Rainville announced at the annual meeting that he will be stepping down this fall.

The Chair of the Board of Directors, Danielle Laberge, is also stepping down. She is being replaced by Melanie Kau.

QUESTIONS ABOUT COMPENSATION

Rainville was also questioned about the compensation of ADM's senior executives. The nonprofit's nine most senior executives shared $1.2 million in bonuses in 2022, despite the operational difficulties that affected thousands of travellers last summer.

"We have very specific goals to meet," Rainville said. "You have to look at the attribution of the problems we had, what is the responsibility of the local airport versus the circumstances around it."

Rainville's annual salary was $536,000 in 2022, a 16 per cent increase over last year's $461,000. `

"[My compensation] is very good, it's very fair and competitive with airports in Vancouver and Toronto and Calgary," he said.

The median salary for ADM employees increased by 5 per cent in 2022 to $89,860.

ADM also released its first quarter results at the meeting.

Passenger numbers at Montreal-Trudeau, at 4.5 million for the first three months of the year, are 96.7 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. The international sector is doing better than before the pandemic, but business travel is still down.

ADM's surplus was $25.6 million compared to a loss of $35.6 million in the same period last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 4, 2023.