Early years (1986–1999)
François Legault founded Air Transat with other business partners such as Jean-Marc Eustache, Philippe Sureau, Lina de Cesare, Yvon Lecavalier, and Pierre Ménard.
Air Transat made its inaugural flight on 14 November 1987, travelling from Montreal to Acapulco aboard a Lockheed L-1011, piloted by Jean Guertin and Richard Bolduc, with Noël Arsenault serving as the flight engineer. By April 1988, Air Transat expanded its operations at the Toronto airport, and in May 1988, it completed its very first transatlantic flight between Montréal-Mirabel Airport and Paris-Orly Airport.
In December 1990, the fleet consisted of five L-1011 aircraft. In 1992, three Boeing 727-200 s were added.
In 1993, Air Transat assumed defunct Nationair's maintenance base and aircraft.
On 13 March 1997, François Legault left his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Air Transat subsidiary, surprising financial markets, the industry, and its partners.[7]The primary reason for his departure was a conflicting vision with his two main partners, Jean-Marc Eustache and Philippe Sureau, regarding the pace of the company's expansion. He sold his shares for an estimated $19 million, before entering politics.
Expansion (2000–2020)
In February 2005, Air Transat relocated its activities from Montréal-Mirabel Airport and officially inaugurated its operational facilities in the Montréal-Trudeau airport zone.
On 13 February 2009, Transat A.T. announced a five-year partnership with CanJet. From 1 May 2009, Transat Tours Canada chartered CanJet's Boeing 737 aircraft flying from Canadian cities to various destinations. This replaced an agreement with Calgary-based WestJet.[8]
On 13 February 2011, Air Transat Flight TS163 operated with the airline's first all-female flight crew from Cancun to Vancouver. In 2012, the airline was named World's Best Leisure Airline by Skytrax.[9] The airline reclaimed the global title in 2018[10] and has won it nearly every year since (2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025), with the exceptions of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, it was named North America's Best Leisure Airline.
COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021)
On 18 March 2020, the airline announced a phased grounding of all its flights amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It halted new ticket sales to dedicate its resources entirely to repatriating an estimated 65,000 customers, working closely with the Canadian government. By 1 April 2020, the carrier had completely suspended all flight operations, forcing the temporarily lay off roughly 70% of its staff, i.e., about 3,600 employees, including the entirety of flight crews.[16] This total shutdown was unavoidable given the airline's reliance on the leisure travel market, which was severely disrupted by international border closures and restrictions on non-essential travel.
The airline opted to provide customers with travel credits rather than cash refunds, a decision that drew sharp criticism from various consumer protection groups. British consumer site MoneySavingExpert named Air Transat as one of the worst-performing travel firms for refunding passengers whose flights or trips were cancelled. The United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in a report examining the impact of COVID-19 on airline carriers' treatment of passengers to and from the UK during the pandemic, found that Air Transat was one of the airlines failing to provide cash refunds to passengers whose flights had been cancelled by the airline, in breach of the Flight Compensation Regulation.[17] The regulation requires airlines to refund passengers whose flights are cancelled under any circumstances, including the COVID-19 pandemic; the report also noted that CAA's inquiries, while preparing the report, had resulted in Air Transat assuring it that all cash payments would henceforth be handled properly.
Recent developments (2021–present)
On 27 May 2021, Transat A.T. co-founder Jean-Marc Eustache retired.[21] He was succeeded by Annick Guérard, who had been Chief Operating Officer since 2017, as she took over the role of President and Chief Executive Officer.
On 25 July 2023, Pratt & Whitney announced the discovery of a rare condition in the powdered metal used to manufacture certain turbine discs for GTF engines, requiring a global recall and inspection program.[22] Air Transat, whose Airbus A321LR fleet is the cornerstone of its business model, was disproportionately affected. To offset the simultaneous grounding of up to six aircraft through 2024, the airline initiated a wet-leasing strategy in December 2023. As global supply chain bottlenecks delayed engine repairs into 2025, Air Transat secured financial compensation agreements with the manufacturer to mitigate the ongoing operational disruptions.
On 28 November 2023, Air Transat and Porter Airlines formed a joint venture to make the two airlines' networks complementary while leveraging their respective markets.[23]
