Montreal Airports | Relaunch is delayed

After desertion at the start of the pandemic, more travelers returned to Montreal-Trudeau International Airport last year. Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) would like to “restart the machine” in 2022, but the Omicron variant risks setting it up in its wheels.

Julien arsenault
Press

The president and CEO of the non-profit organization, Philippe Rainville, does not hide it: it is the mutations of the new coronavirus that constitute the main obstacle to the recovery.

“But we adjust faster and faster,” he explained in an interview with Press before the tightening of health restrictions. You get used to living with it. I don’t see anything else [qui peut freiner la reprise]. ”

Before the arrival of the Omicron variant, the operator of the Montreal-Trudeau and Mirabel airports expected to see passenger traffic reach at least 50% of the levels observed in 2019, when 20.3 million travelers had been welcomed.

This forecast was described as “conservative” by Mr. Rainville.

“If we look at the flight schedules [des transporteurs] for the coming summer, it was higher than that, he emphasizes. We arrive at a number of at least 10 [points de pourcentage] superior. But we still made a 50% prediction. Why ? To be on the safe side, in case a variant arrives. ”

However, it will be necessary to see whether health restrictions and advisories against non-essential travel abroad will encourage airlines to change their minds, which would have an impact on ADM.

Gradual recovery

ADM’s financial situation has deteriorated significantly since the onset of the health crisis. Projects such as the repair of the “city side” landing stage and the construction of a new terminal have been put on hold.

We should therefore not expect major changes within the walls of Montréal-Trudeau. For Mr. Rainville, “restarting the machine” means in particular “bringing back a skilled workforce”, a heavy task while recruitment is difficult for all employers.

“We had to let go of 30% of our workforce at the start of the pandemic,” recalls the leader of ADM. We also work with all of our partners, from porters to receptionists. ”

With approximately 490 employees, ADM aims to add between 50 and 100 people to its workforce over the next year. The positions to be filled are not “necessarily” the same as those abolished in August 2020. Already, the deterioration of the health situation has prompted the organization to postpone the planned hires “by at least” one quarter.

Will candidates want to choose a job in one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic?

“That’s a very good question,” concedes Rainville. It’s going to be difficult for sure. We try to be attractive, but the instability of the industry, yes, will affect us. ”

Apart from the start of work on the station that will accommodate the Metropolitan Express Network (REM), ADM plans to take advantage of the temporary closure of a track – while the CDPQ Infra tunnel boring machine will pass underneath – to offer it a cure. of rejuvenation. This is the runway located to the north of the airport site, on the “aviation” side.

The bill for this project is “several tens of millions of dollars”.

“We think that in 2023, we will have arrived at the time when we will succeed in paying the interest on our debt, which is still huge,” says Mr. Rainville.

ADM’s debt swelled to $ 2.9 billion. In order to finance its activities despite the crisis, ADM had collected, last April, 400 million through a bond issue.

In the absence of repair work, Mr. Rainville warned last November before the Canadian Club of Montreal that a hasty return of travelers could be accompanied by unpleasant surprises. Before the arrival of the new coronavirus, Montréal-Trudeau’s infrastructures were struggling to meet demand.

This return of travelers could take longer than expected to materialize. In the meantime, ADM will have to continue to find the balance between its financial room for maneuver and the resources required to relaunch its activities.