MONTREAL (Reuters) - Air Canada (TO:AC) on Tuesday reported lower-than-expected third-quarter profit, hurt by lower flight capacity in the wake of the grounding of Boeing Co's (N:BA) 737 MAX airplanes.
The airline in July had warned investors that the grounding of its fleet of 24 MAX jets would weigh on earnings during the third quarter, with capacity expected to decline 2% during the busy summer travel season compared with a year earlier.
The company has pulled the MAX from its schedule until February 14, 2020.
Air Canada's passenger revenue per available seat mile, the main revenue measure for airlines, rose 5.3% during the quarter, helped by higher average fares.
Canada's largest carrier's adjusted net income rose to C$613 million, or C$2.27 per share, from C$580 million, or C$ 2.10 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected quarterly profit of C$2.34 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.