MONTREAL — Air Canada lowered its financial forecast for the year as travellers continue to shy away from trips to the United States amid cross-border tensions, pushing the country’s largest airline to hunt for demand elsewhere.
The company’s transborder bookings have dropped at least 13 per cent — “in the low teens” — for the next six months, chief executive Michael Rousseau said on Friday, prompting the carrier to cut flight capacity south of the border.
“We observed a decline in interest among Canadians for travel to the U.S. The noise around tariffs and trade disputes definitely had an impact,” Rousseau told analysts on a conference call.
“But also, we believe some travellers avoided the U.S. simply because it was…