Air Canada raked in a nearly five-fold revenue increase in its latest quarter but continued to suffer net losses in the hundreds of millions due to a “very challenging” three months, said CEO Mike Rousseau. Nevertheless, the airline boss says he is “encouraged” by the recent improvements.

While falling short of forecasts, the sunnier earnings come after months of global industry turbulence as airlines, airports and governments try to catch up with a massive travel rebound that has unleashed scenes of chaos in terminals.

Customer volume shot up to 9.1 million passengers in the quarter ended June 30, reaching 71% of levels from the same period in 2019. Staffing numbers were even higher compared to the pre-pandemic payroll, Air Canada said Tuesday.

“But despite all the planning, the increased traffic has created difficulties for all participants in the air transport system, a situation that we’re seeing around the globe,” Rousseau told analysts on a conference call.

Air Canada “regret(s)” the disruptions its passengers have faced, he said, while chief operations officer Craig Landry offered an apology for the lack of “operational stability.”

But Landry also pointed the finger at other industry players for the cascade of cancellations and other hiccups.

“These effects were primarily driven by resourcing challenges and could be seen in airport security screening, Canada and US border customs processing, air traffic control, maintenance providers, equipment supply chains, aircraft catering and fuelling partners, just to name a few,” he said.

Mechanical failures at airport baggage systems have also played a role in the constant luggage mishaps that have plagued passengers over the summer, he added.

The difficult summer ramp-up pushed Air Canada and Toronto’s Pearson airport to the very top of global flight delay lists, with Canada’s largest airline frequently reaching No. 1 for percentage of delayed trips – up to two-thirds of scheduled flights on some days – in June and July.

However, its performance has improved markedly in the past four weeks after the company slashed more than 15% of its scheduled flights in July and August, affecting hundreds of thousands of customers.

On Tuesday, Air Canada reported a second-quarter loss of $386 million compared with a loss of $1.17 billion a year earlier, when extensive flight restrictions due to COVID-19 were still in place.

Revenue totalled $3.98 billion, compared with $837 million during the same time last year.