Interesting times at Canadian airports these days, but it’s not clear whether the average Canadian understands precisely what the real problem at Air Canada really is.
Charles Adler’s end of week segment with the Globe & Mail’s Dan Cook revealed some startling facts:
> Market Cap: $227 Million = $0.227 Billion
> Pension Liabilities: $13 Billion
In other words, the company owes approximately 57 times in union pension commitments than it is currently worth.
Since many people’s eyes glaze over when they see “millions” & “billions”, another way to look at is like this:
Imagine a 25 year old, living on his own in a rented apartment, tallies up everything he owns and determines it to be worth $10,000. Then he looks at credit card and bank statements and realizes he owes $570,000.
That, in a nutshell, is Air Canada’s predicament today.
Update: The $227 Million market cap and $13 Billion pension liabilities were accurately reported from what Dan Cook said on the radio program. But SDA regular ‘KevinB’ says this may not be correct. His comment is well worth a read.
This is what you get when government is deeply involved in an industry.
Kevin brings a little taste of reality to subject.
My take away from this is that SunTV news is just as bad as the CBC or CTV or take your pick from the rest.
Adler has always been a bloviator and completely unconcerned about facts … especially capable of ignoring any fact that fails to support his current rant. The crap that comes from the G&M continues to be exactly that and anyone who takes what they say at face value is going to remain uninformed.
“Call me a cynic, but I think the Feds will never let AC die until Westjet begins offering Business Class in their fleet.
Hell will freeze over before your local MP is forced to sit in Coach.”
Sooke is right. There is more truth to this statement than most people realize. The number of MPs I’ve spotted standing in line for business class on Air Canada – well, don’t even get me started.
“Hell will freeze over before your local MP is forced to sit in Coach.”
Say what you will about the late Jack Layton but he always flew coach between Toronto and Ottawa.
I know; I’ve sat next to him.
And did he offer to pay you for a hand job? Inquiring minds want to know.