Air Transat

## What is Air Transat

**Air Transat** is the third-largest Canadian airline, based in Montreal, Quebec, operating scheduled and charter flights, serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. The airline is owned and operated by Transat A.T. Inc.

## Early Days

François Legault founded Air Transat with other business partners such as Jean-Marc Eustache, Philippe Sureau, Lina de Cesare, Yvon Lecavalier, and Pierre Ménard. Legault left the company in 1997 with no forewarning after a dispute with business partners, who only found out after the fact.

Air Transat made its inaugural flight on November 14, 1987, travelling from Montreal to Acapulco. Six years later, Air Transat assumed defunct Nationair's maintenance base and aircraft. Today, the company books over 3.5 million passengers a year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transat A.T. Inc.

Air Transat is now one of Canada's largest airlines, after Air Canada and WestJet. Air Transat has 5,000 employees. On February 13, 2011, Air Transat Flight TS163 operated with their first all-female flight crew from Cancun to Vancouver. The airline has won many awards, including the 2012, 2018 and 2019 Skytrax World's Best Leisure Airline Awards.

On February 13, 2009, Transat A.T. announced a five-year partnership with CanJet. Since 1 May 2009, Transat Tours Canada has chartered CanJet's Boeing 737 aircraft flying from Canadian cities to various destinations. This replaced an agreement with Calgary-based Westjet

## Proposed Air Canada Merger

On 16 May 2019, Transat AT, the company that owns Air Transat, announced it was in exclusive talks to be purchased by Air Canada. An offer was subsequently made by the latter at C$13 per share and another company, Group Mach, proposed purchase at C$14.

On 27 June 2019, the Board of Transat AT accepted Air Canada's all-cash bid of C$520 million and did not comment on the C$527.6 proposal from Group Mach because the talks with Air Canada were still exclusive. The deal required approval by two-thirds of shareholders; some major investors and some financial analysts stated that the offer is below the true value of the company. Regulatory and governmental approval would be required for sale of Transat AT. A May report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation stated that "regulatory approvals are no sure thing". If the Air Canada purchase is concluded, Air Transat would continue to operate as separate brand.

By mid August, Air Canada increased its offer by nearly 40% to C$18 per share from C$13, valuing the acquisition at C$720 million ($544 million in American Dollars), to obtain backing from Letko Brosseau, Transat AT's largest shareholder with 19% of the company. On 23 August, a 95% majority of Transat's voting shareholders approved the Air Canada proposal at C$18 ($13.53) per share, after the Quebec Administrative Court of Financial Markets rejected the rival bid from Groupe Mach on 12 August. The proposed transaction should be publicly assessed by Transport Canada until 2 May 2020, before the buyout closes. Price per share will be revised to $5 in October 2020. On April 2 2021 the merger was dropped following a failure to secure European Commission approval.