ACI (2002) The Economic Impact of Canadian Airports 2002, Canadian Airport Economic Impact for Airport Council International, North America, 2002

The year 2000 ushered in a radical change in Canada's air transportation with the consolidation of the two major airlines: Air Canada and Canadian Airlines. With its acquisition of Canadian Airlines, Air Canada has reinforced its position as the nation's dominant airline, with more than 80 percent of the capacity offered in Canada and 90 percent of revenues. Scheduled air services in Canada are now largely defined by Air Canada, which, along with its wholly owned subsidiaries and commercial partners, provide the only comprehensive Canadian network of domestic, transborder and international air services.

Despite the merger, the early results of consolidation had a restricted impact on Canadian airports, with reduced capacity being replaced by flights offered by new Tier II carriers, which expanded flight frequencies, capacity and networks in 2000. However, some of those gains were lost again as the Tier II airlines themselves were consolidated and the enlarged Canada 3000 went bankrupt in 2001. The consolidation did hurt some small communities who suddenly saw services cut back, if not eliminated. But small Tier III airlines found a niche and subsequently filled the gap. These small communities benefited from the competition provided. Surging growth at Canadian airports since the last report (which used 1997 data) is clearly evident in the table below. From 1997 to 2001, the total economic output created by the airports jumped 10.7% from CDN$30.8 billion to CDN$34.1 billion. Meanwhile employment grew some 4.1% from 292,000 total employees to over 304,000.