Report details progress on safety, the environment, people and communities

MONTREAL, June 3, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today issued Citizens of the World, its 2018 corporate sustainability report. The report, available online at www.aircanada.com/citizensoftheworld, details the airline's progress in key areas of sustainability and is supported by an extensive table of performance indicators in accordance with the principles of the Global Reporting Initiative.

"Real sustainability requires accountability. For this reason, since 2011 Air Canada has issued public sustainability reports that describe our activities in the areas of safety, the environment, our people and local communities. We believe that in business, you do well by doing good and, at Air Canada, we take this very much to heart as our experience has shown that that is how our airline truly thrives," said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Senior Vice President of People, Culture and Communication at Air Canada.

"As the report describes, we had significant achievements with respect to all of our sustainability programs in 2018, most notably being named the Eco-Airline of the Year in a global award competition. But more than this, the report also sets new goals for the current year so that our progress can be tracked for greater accountability in the future."  

For the 2018 report, Air Canada undertook an extensive materiality assessment of stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers and investors to identify the sustainability issues that matter most to them. As well, the airline obtained third-party validation of select metrics to ensure the integrity of its reporting.

Among its key sustainability accomplishments in 2018, Air Canada

• safely launched 29 new routes and reinforced our 33,000 employees' commitment to safety;
• was recognized as the 2018 Eco-Airline of the Year by Air Transport World and exceeded the collective annual fuel efficiency improvement targets of 1.5 per cent agreed upon by IATA for the global airline industry;
• initiated numerous training and inclusivity programs for our people, for which we were recognized for the sixth consecutive year as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers;
• and supported 275 registered charities through the Air Canada Foundation in more than 200 communities we serve and where our people live.

About Air Canada 

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving nearly 220 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2018 served nearly 51 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 63 airports in Canada, 56 in the United States and 100 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 1,317 airports in 193 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, which also named Air Canada the 2018 Best Airline in North America. For more information, please visit: aircanada.com/media, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook. 

SOURCE Air Canada