The chaotic situation at Montreal-Trudeau should not be repeated this summer, assures the big boss of Montreal Airport (ADM). However, he foresees complications in the medium term.
“Everyone’s eyes are on operations to ensure that we have the capacity,” replied the president and CEO, Philippe Rainville, in a press scrum on the sidelines of ADM’s annual meeting. I am confident for the summer. »
ADM anticipates that there will be between 10% to 15% more passengers than before the pandemic (2019) this summer. Despite this increase in traffic, Mr. Rainville thinks that “the whole system should work smoothly”.
He asserts that ADM and its partners have learned the necessary lessons from the disruptions of last summer. “Everyone has added resources. Everyone made system additions. »
The comments come as Canadian airports experienced numerous delays in March, raising doubts about their preparedness for another busy summer season.
In March, Montreal airport recorded an on-time performance rate of around 68%, compared to 80% in March 2019, according to data from aeronautical data company OAG.
Mr. 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. It will be years that will be more difficult. »
It will be up to the person who will succeed him to manage this difficult period since Mr. Rainville announced, during the annual meeting, that he will leave his functions this fall.
The president of the board of directors, Danielle Laberge, is also stepping down. She is replaced by Mélanie Kau.
Questions about compensation
Mr. Rainville was also questioned about the compensation of ADM’s senior executives. The nonprofit’s nine top executives shared bonuses of $1.2 million in 2022, despite operational difficulties that affected thousands of travelers last summer.
“We have very specific objectives to meet, defends Mr. Rainville. We must see in the attribution of the problems we had, which is the responsibility of the local airport versus the surrounding circumstances. »
Mr. Rainville’s annual salary was $536,000 in 2022. That’s a 16% increase from the $461,000 paid last year. ” [Ma rémunération] is very good, it is very correct and competitive with the airports of Vancouver and Toronto and Calgary. »
The median salary of ADM employees increased by 5% in 2022 to $89,860.
A good start to the year
ADM also unveiled its first quarter results at the same time as its meeting.
The number of passengers at Montréal-Trudeau, at 4.5 million for the first three months of the year, corresponds to 96.7% of that before the pandemic. The international sector is doing better than before the pandemic, but business travel is still down.
ADM’s surplus amounted to $25.6 million compared to a loss of $35.6 million for the same period last year.