Cargojet Inc.

Good day and welcome to the CargoJet second quarter 2022 results conference call. Today's conference is being recorded and at this time I would like to turn it over to Ms. Pauline Dillon, Chief Corporate Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Arianna. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. With me on the call today are A.J. Vermani, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Jamie Porteus, our Chief Strategy Officer, Scott Colliver, our Chief Financial Officer, Sanjeev Mani, our Vice President, Finance. After opening remarks about the quarter, we will open the call for questions. I would like to point out that certain statements made on this call, such as those relating to our forecasted revenues, costs, and strategic plans, are forward-looking within the meaning of the applicable securities laws. This call also includes references to non-GAAP measures, like adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. Please refer to our most recent press release in MD&A for important assumptions and cautionary statements relating to forward-looking information and for reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to GAAP income. I'll now turn the call over to A.J. Vermani. Thank you, Pauline.

I will cover the industry and general background revolving our business and the recent quarter results and turn over the meeting to Scott Calver for a detailed financial update. We are certainly and definitely living in very interesting and challenging times. Just as we are putting the pandemic behind us, there are several new challenges facing the economy and all of our lives. Inflation, rising interest rates, high fuel costs, Ukraine war still continuing, and the risk of recessions. All these things are lining up at the same time. One of the most affected sectors is the aviation sector, which is in an extreme turmoil all around the world. As for airlines that carry cargo in their bellies, there is simply too much turmoil. You have all seen the news of jammed air force, undelivered baggage, stranded passengers, canceled flights, And no doubt, the cargo portion of their businesses is the silent sufferer. But I must say, not a cargo jet. One major passenger airline has even announced their plans to abandon their strategy to pursue wide-body aircrafts on international routes and shift their focus and retrench from eastern Canada into western Canada. Many other large passenger airlines are also focused on fixing its passenger side of the business. Many of the resources that typically focus on cargo, including people, are being deployed on the passenger side to help stabilize their core business. And the cargo business is just an orphan at the present time with these kind of carriers. But let me say it very clearly. CargoJet does one thing and does it very well. We fly across Canada and internationally. We do not have any other distractions. Cargo is an all we do. And we do it well with over 20 years of experience. We have a cargo culture. We have a cargo pedigree where minutes count. The reason CargoJet was born was primarily to serve customers who could not depend on the unpredictability to value space availability. We have never wavered from that mission. We are executing for our customers and our on-time service track record for 2022 has been as strong as ever, in spite of all the industry issues. We are fully staffed. We have extremely highly qualified and very professional pilot group, very professional and qualified maintenance and ground handling teams. And we are squarely focused on one thing, serving our customers and on-time performance. If you are a major air cargo customer, Which airline would you rather be one? One that is single-mindedly focused on air cargo, which is 100% of their business, or you would be with an airline that is juggling between passengers and cargo and baggage, where cargo represents only 5% of their business. As an air cargo customer, the answer is simple. You will only get 5% of their attention from these carriers. This challenging environment has also allowed us to demonstrate to our long-term customers whose business depends on on-time delivery that CargoJet indeed is the right partner for them and their customers. Our customers' growth is our growth. We were tested at the start of the pandemic. We were tested when supply chains were disrupted due to floods forest fires affecting railways. We are being tested as passenger airlines juggle with the reopening. CargoJet continues to rise to the challenge, and we believe these are important examples which our long-term customers value immensely. While we feel confident about the long-term growth opportunities, but CargoJet is also not immune to the broader economic headwinds such as inflation, rising interest rates, general economic cycles, and somewhat of a slowdown on the e-commerce sector at the present time. While we still believe that e-commerce customers are taking a bit of a break flocking to the stores, We still feel that Canada has a lot to catch up with the world and we feel this segment continuously to grow from what we are seeing. This is exactly why we are watching all of our key metrics very closely and will remain prudent as we continue to strike the right balance between investing in future growth and maintaining a strong balance sheet. We have the best balance sheet of any airline in the world. We have almost $1 billion worth of equity or liquidity, I should say. And I must say that we are the most and best-equipped airline to weather any storm or headwinds that might be on the way. We are also continuing to attract the best talent in the industry. And I'm very pleased to welcome Scott Calvert as our new CFO. He's no longer a stranger to the transportation industry who will be addressing shortly. We also remain focused on building some strong management team in each of our growth segments with a focus on succession planning. Our diversification strategies is working well and totally on course. We are achieving what we set out to achieve in this area. At the end of the day, people drive results. And I'm a firm believer that if you take care of the people, they'll take care of your customers. I must say that I'm extremely proud of the group of people, whether it's maintenance, whether it's ground handler, whether it's finance, and our fine pilots, I can assure you that we do not compromise in getting the best talent that's available. Thank you very much. I will now pass on to our CFO, Scott Calver, for an update on the business.