( CNN ) -- Air Canada has seen quite a turnaround . A few years ago , Canada 's national carrier was on the brink of declaring bankruptcy for a second time in a decade , and at the end of 2011 it reported a $ 60 million loss . After a year-long shakeup , however , the once-turbulent company has seen a dramatic rise in profits , and its end-of-year earnings for 2012 were $ 8 million ( the first time the company had turned a profit in five years ) . Calin Rovinescu , the company 's CEO , attributes the upturn to his `` Gangnam-style '' approach . In a recent issue of the airline 's in-flight magazine , he wrote : . `` Full-service , established airlines like Air Canada have to be especially flexible and nimble to avoid becoming the great-uncle launching into a twist at the wedding , whilst the youngsters go 'gangnam ' . '' In other words , Air Canada realized it had to learn new moves , or , as Rovinescu clarifies , `` get off the dance floor . '' One of the carrier 's most prominent restructuring methods is adding 109 more seats to five new Boeing 777-300ERs , and introducing a new premium economy class . `` I want us to be the leading , premium airline in North America , '' says Rovinescu , who acknowledges there is stiff competition . Read more : Economy class goes gourmet . Though there 's always a risk that a boosted up economy class will lure a few passengers who would have otherwise booked a more expensive business-class ticket , Rovinescu is confident the move will instead attract a new demographic of economy passengers who want a few extra creature comforts . `` People that are on the edge of being able to pay for a business class seat may well move to the premium economy , but our expectation is that it will be more than made up by economy class passengers that buy in ( because they find ) the pricing of a business class too high . '' Another major move is that the airline has started to launch a bigger presence in the Asian market , increasing their routes between Toronto and Vancouver to Beijing , Shanghai and Hong Kong . Perhaps the most dramatic change , though , is the addition of a second , low-cost airline , called Rouge , which the company is billing as its `` leisure '' service . Rouge employs smaller planes and travels to separate , more vacation-themed destinations than the main carrier . `` We 're a pretty good brand in the leisure market , though word is that we do well on the business travel-side internationally . We look at our business and say , well , we could either abandon ( the leisure-side ) over time , as there will always be an efficient , lower cost producer , or we could get into it in a much more meaningful way . '' It 's still too early to see what effect these changes will have on Air Canada 's bottom line in the long run . But the company 's recent profit margins bode well . `` One year does not a transformation make , '' acknowledges Rovinescu , `` but I 'm really encouraged by the results of last year . I will characterize ourselves as a baseball game . We are probably in the fifth inning right now of a transformation process . '' Read more : Air Canada flight finds stranded Australian yacht . The company also faced labor challenges last year with disputes with the airlines ' two largest unions , the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers . The launch of Rouge was one point of contention , with airline staff worried about the implications for the safety of their jobs . `` Some of the things ( we implemented ) were a little bit of a shock to the airline , a shock to the system . The contracts were all settled and everybody did a great job and went back to work , '' he says . `` Otherwise , we would n't be winning awards , '' he adds . The accolades he refers to include an award for best international airline in North America for three years running in the World Airline Awards . The carrier also was named best North American airline for international travel and best North American airline in-flight experience ( as voted on by readers of U.S. magazine Business Traveler ) . As Rovinescu points out , Air Canada has a legacy to maintain , and sometimes doing so can be harder than starting from scratch . `` As significant as it is for an entrepreneur to start a business , it 's a lot tougher to convert a business that has been around for twenty five years , and that 's really what we 're doing now , '' he says .
In 2012 , Air Canada turned a profit for the first time in five years . Calin Rovinescu , the CEO , wrote that the company needed to keep up with the competition by going 'Gangnam ' One major change was introducing premium economy class . The airline also introduced new routes and expanded its network.