Citizens of the World details environmental, social and economic sustainability initiatives

MONTREAL, Aug. 25, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today released the 2013 edition of Citizens of the World, the airline's third corporate sustainability report. The document evaluates Air Canada's performance during 2013 in four key areas of sustainability: safety, the environment, the well-being of employees, and the company's community involvement.

"Communities are important to Air Canada because they are home to our customers and employees and connecting people and communities is the essence of our business. For this reason, Air Canada ensures economic, environmental and social sustainability considerations are part of its decision-making and one way we do this is by reporting on our activities through Citizens of the World, our corporate sustainability report. Today we are releasing our third report and it improves upon previous editions with a greater degree of disclosure, including more quantified data on our programs and accomplishments," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive of Air Canada. "More than a report card on past activities, Citizens of the World provides stakeholders a means to hold Air Canada accountable in the future. By explicitly stating our goals for the coming year and beyond, the report not only helps focus our airline on its sustainability objectives but also lays down markers by which our progress toward them can be measured."

Air Canada's 2013 corporate sustainability report is available at www.aircanada.com/csr. It was prepared in accordance with principles of the Global Reporting Initiative, an internationally recognized standard for sustainability reporting. The report is framed around the findings of an extensive stakeholder survey undertaken to identify areas of most concern with respect to sustainability. It also contains a discussion of governance practices at Air Canada and tables of data quantifying the results of our sustainability activities. Highlights of 2013 include:

• completion of the Transport Canada Safety Management System Audit;
• continued support for the development of alternative, more environmentally-friendly fuels;
• a 21 per cent reduction in Lost Time Injuries;
• a total of approximately $6.5 million in community investments including contributions from the Air Canada Foundation to a range of charitable causes in the form of in-kind donations and cash.
  
  

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013 served more than 35 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 73 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,316 airports in 192 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 that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2014 for the fifth consecutive year.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.

SOURCE Air Canada