Mr. Joe Randell reports

CHORUS AVIATION ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS

Chorus Aviation Inc. has released its third quarter financial results for the period ended Sept. 30, 2018.

Highlights

• Momentum in new regional aircraft leasing transactions continues;
• Delivering regional aviation to the world;
• Net income of $43.7-million, or 31 cents per basic share, inclusive of an unrealized foreign exchange gain of $14.0-million;
• Adjusted net income of $30.8-million, or 22 cents per basic share, a decrease of $18.0-million, of which $12.6-million was driven by changes in tax rates in 2017;
• Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $87.1-million, an increase of $3.4-million, or 4.0 per cent, primarily due to increased earnings from aircraft leasing;
• Continued execution on aircraft leasing strategy with the addition of three new customers and growth in third party fleet to 33 aircraft, of which five will be delivered over the course of 2019;
• Expanded maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) certifications to include Embraer 135 and 145 aircraft;
• Added airBaltic as a third party airframe maintenance customer;
• Diversified parts provisioning offerings with the addition of Q400 inventory;
• Completed the eighth extended service program (ESP) on a Dash 8-300 aircraft.

"Our business delivered solid performance in the third quarter of this year," said Joe Randell, president and chief executive officer, Chorus. "Our financial performance in the third quarter generated over $87.0-million in adjusted EBITDA, a $3.4-million or 4.0-per-cent increase over third quarter 2017 due primarily to growth in aircraft leasing. Net income per basic share was 31 cents.

"The Chorus team executed on our diversification strategy securing leasing and maintenance, repair, and overhaul contracts with new international customers. The addition of Philippine Airlines, Lion Air and JamboJet extends our aircraft leasing customer base into 13 countries and marks our first transactions in Southeast Asia, a market we believe has good potential for additional aircraft placements.

"Once these recently announced transactions are completed, we will have acquired aircraft valued at approximately $730.0-million (U.S.) to date, excluding the CPA aircraft, and secured additional, long-term lease revenue streams.

"We also gained traction on the MRO front. We were very pleased to welcome airBaltic to our portfolio of third party maintenance customers to conduct airframe maintenance on 12 Q400s. Further, we obtained Transport Canada certification to perform MRO work on Embraer 135 and 145 aircraft diversifying our capabilities beyond Bombardier products. This, in addition to expanding our parts provisioning inventory to now include highly marketable Q400 parts, supports our mission to provide a complete suite of support services to regional operators worldwide.

"I'm confident in our pipeline for future growth opportunities, and I extend my gratitude to our team of exceptional professionals for embracing our vision."

2018 outlook

Since the start of last year, Chorus has realized net proceeds of $303.0-million from the issuance of convertible units in March, 2017, and the issuance of common shares in March, 2018. Approximately 30 per cent of this capital remains uncommitted and Chorus anticipates committing the balance by mid-2019 in new to midlife aircraft with long-term leases to a diverse group of high-quality customers located around the world.

Based on the 2017 to 2018 winter schedule, the 2018 summer schedule and updated planning assumptions received from Air Canada, billable block hours for 2018 are expected to be between 364,000 and 370,000 hours based on 116 covered aircraft as at Dec. 31, 2018. The actual number of billable block hours for 2018 may vary from this anticipated range due to various factors.

Capital expenditures for 2018, excluding those for the acquisition of aircraft and ESP, and including capitalized major maintenance overhauls, are expected to be between $41.0-million and $48.0-million.

Investor conference call/audio webcast

Chorus will hold an analyst call at 9:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, to discuss the third quarter financial results. The call may be accessed by dialling 1-888-231-8191. The call will be simultaneously audio webcast on-line.

This is a listen-in only audio webcast. Media Player or Real Player is required to listen to the broadcast, please download well in advance of the call.

The conference call webcast will be archived on Chorus's website under reports then executive management presentations. A playback of the call can also be accessed until midnight ET on Nov. 22, 2018, by dialling toll-free 1-855-859-2056 and entering passcode 1273527 followed by the pound key.

                                  THIRD QUARTER SUMMARY                                                                         
                                      (in thousands)

                                                        Three months ended Sept. 30    
                                                               2018            2017   

Operating revenue                                          $366,696        $343,685
Operating expenses                                          310,669         287,673
Operating income                                             56,027          56,012
Non-operating (expenses) income                              (2,797)         20,208
Income before income taxes                                   53,230          76,220
Income tax (expense) recovery                                (9,508)          3,085
Net income                                                   43,722          79,305
Add (deduct) items to get to adjusted net income
Unrealized foreign exchange gain                            (13,982)        (31,088)
Employee separation program                                   1,098             583
                                                            (12,884)        (30,505)
Adjusted net income                                          30,838          48,800
Add (deduct) items to get to adjusted EBITDA
Net interest expense                                         13,987          11,632
Income tax expense (recovery)                                 9,508          (3,085)
Depreciation and amortization                                29,950          27,149
Foreign exchange loss (gain)                                  2,598            (749)
Loss (gain) on disposal of property and equipment               194              (3)
                                                             56,237          34,944
Adjusted EBITDA                                              87,075          83,744

About Chorus Aviation Inc.

Chorus's vision is to deliver regional aviation to the world. Chorus has been leasing its owned regional aircraft into Jazz's Air Canada Express operation since 2009 and has established Chorus Aviation Capital Corp. to become a leading, global provider of regional aircraft leases and support services. Chorus also owns Jazz Aviation and Voyageur Aviation -- companies that have long histories of safe and solid operations that deliver excellent customer service in the areas of contract flying operations, engineering, fleet management, and maintenance, repair and overhaul.

We seek Safe Harbor.