Transcontinental

• Operating income for the current quarter decreased 28% to $203.3 million versus $281.9 million for the fourth quarter 2022.
• In addition, fourth quarter 2023 included a $15.0 million net increase in loss on sale of equipment compared to the prior-year period.
• Net interest expense in the current quarter increased primarily from higher interest rates and a higher average outstanding debt balance compared to fourth quarter 2022.
• Fourth Quarter 2023 Segment Revenue: $1.62 billion; down 7%
  Fourth Quarter 2023 Operating Income: $129.9 million; down 28%
  Intermodal volume increased 6% over the same period in 2022.

• Earlier that year, Earhart had flown as an observer on a Northwest Airways winter flight across the U.S., testing the possibilities of a “Northern Transcontinental” route.
• Meanwhile, the ecosystem of air travel has grown more elaborate, often leaving passengers squirming in their seats on the tarmac before or after flight.
• Coast-to-coast air travel is in a rut – but there are still efforts to improve this mode of transit.

Just another ordinary miracle

• Transcontinental air journeys are clearly different 90 years after Earhart’s record-breaking exploratory flights: Travelers now take such trips for granted, and often find them to be pure drudgery.
• In 2018, travel blogger Ravi Ghelani reviewed in minute detail a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Seattle – roughly the same northern route that Earhart explored in 1933.
• But for Ghelani, seated in first class, it wasn’t the terrain or frigid temperatures that were the most cumbersome part of his adventure.

Little indignities multiply

• The high-risk adventure of air travel has been subdued, yet long flights today can paradoxically feel torturous.
• As philosopher Michael Marder puts it in his 2022 book “Philosophy for Passengers”: “When crew members wish passengers a ‘pleasant journey,’ I hear a dash of cruel irony in their words.
• Still, it’s worth noting that the majority of the human population has never boarded an airplane; flying cross-country remains a relatively exclusive experience.

2 futures of cross-country flight

• Where are the new frontiers for transcontinental flight today?
• One area of innovation is in a greener form of flight.
• Theirs is the high-flying equivalent of the Tesla electric sports car.” Solar Impulse was more recently reconfigured as a remotely piloted aircraft, with new experiments in long-distance solar flight underway.
• These are two starkly different visions of coast-to-coast flight, one a dystopian nightmare and the other a utopian dream.

• Ms. Ct will succeed Kathleen (Katie) Taylor, who has served as Board Chair since 2014.
• "Jacynthe has extensive corporate governance and strategy experience across multiple sectors and has consistently delivered insightful guidance as a member of RBC's Board for the past eight years.
• She is currently Chair of the Board for HydroQubec and will complete her term in May 2023 as she assumes the role of RBC's Chair.
• Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance.

• MONTREAL, March 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transcontinental Inc. (TSX: TCL.A TCL.B) announces today the acquisition by TC Media of Scolab Inc., a leader in the development of digital educational products.
• This strategic acquisition enhances TC Media Books already strong digital offering.
• This new step forward expands and diversifies our offering of digital educational products for the elementary and secondary levels."
• TC Media, the media sector of Transcontinental Inc. (TSX: TCL.A TCL.B), employs nearly 250 people within TCMediaBooks and Groupe Constructo.