Air Canada chief executive Calin Rovinescu said he’s beginning to see signs of a recovery for the North American airline industry as demand for cargo services grows.

“We’ve seen some encouraging news from the cargo environment,” Rovinescu said. “We are seeing a marked improvement over last year and generally cargo tends to be the bellwether indicator that the recovery is starting.”

While he’s not ready to declare a recovery, saying the airline industry still faced a weak market, he said conditions were much improved over the past 12 months. But business travel – which generates most of the airline’s profit – has yet to rebound.