As the first travellers arrived for the public debut of the new Terminal One at Canada's busiest international airport, chief tenant Air Canada was assuring investors it will fly through its current financial turbulence.

Montreal-based Air Canada has been under creditor protection since April 1, 2003, during which time CEO Robert Milton says his company has undergone significant restructuring.

In an interview from the new facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport early Tuesday, Milton said he's now ready to move on.

"We've brought aircraft leases down, supplier cost down, employee cost down -- so the restructuring has been a terrific success. We just need to get out now," he told CTV's Canada AM.

Milton said he's looking for long-term investors to help him take that next step. And that may or not be Victor Li.

Last week, Li's Trinity Time Investments announced it was backing out of a planned $650-million investment in the struggling airline.

"We'll see what Li does, and then we'll see if we need to go find another investor. Obviously we're actively looking and we know that there are alternatives," Milton told CTV's Canada AM.

Among those reportedly already under consideration are some of Canada's biggest pension funds, Cerberus Capital Management or Gerry Schwartz and his Onex corporation.

Milton made it clear Tuesday he's not interested in a government bailout.

"Personally, I'm absolutely not a believer in government support in this kind of situation," he said. "This is a commercial issue. This company has got to demonstrate its ability to compete going forward."

Only hours earlier, Milton was gladhanding with his customers. He was among the welcoming party for the first passengers to arrive at Canada's newest air terminal -- a $3.6 billion facility where his airline is chief tenant.

Tired after an overnight flight from Vancouver, B.C. Steve Munford was the first to get off an Air Canada flight from Vancouver. In honour of the occasion, he got two free tickets to any Air Canada destination.

"I'll take my wife somewhere real nice, I think," he told CTV's Toronto affiliate, CFTO News.

Terminal woes

Aside from the financial woes of its biggest tenant, the terminal's public debut is under its own cloud of controversy.

Some critics have questioned the cost and the massive debt accrued by the Greater Toronto Airport Authority required to complete this first phase of a planned expansion designed to eventually handle 50 million passengers each year.

With its departure hall designed by architect Moshe Safdi, the new terminal will replace the aging and overcrowded terminals 1 and 2, which together with terminal 3 presently handle about 25 million travellers annually.

Covering an area the size of 55 football fields, the new gateway is filled with up-to-date technology, art work and construction materials -- steel, glass and granite -- chosen to reflect the breadth of the Canadian landscape.

According to the director general of the International Air Transport Association, the GTAA "is completely out of touch with the state of the industry."

Giovanni Bisignani says while airlines worldwide are struggling to cut costs, the new gateway will need to double its revenue to stay solvent.

Airline fees at Pearson have increased 300 per cent since 1997, making Toronto's airport already the fifth most expensive in the world.