Air Canada Preparing to Suspend Operations After Impasse With Union

Air Canada logos are seen on the tails of planes at the airport in Montreal on June 26, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Air Canada says it’s on the verge of suspending most of its operations, as talks between the union representing 5,200 pilots remain in a stalemate over wage demands.

The airline said in a Sept. 9 statement that the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has been making wage demands that “far exceed average Canadian wage increases.” While talks between Air Canada and ALPA are ongoing, the company said the two sides remain far apart.

“Canadians have recently seen the chaos abrupt airline shutdowns cause for travellers, which obliges us to do everything we can to protect our customers from an increasingly likely work stoppage,” Air Canada president and CEO Michael Rousseau said in the statement.

“This includes the extremely difficult decision to begin an orderly shutdown of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge once a 72-hour strike or lock-out notice is given, possibly as early as this Sunday.”

In a statement to The Epoch Times, ALPA accused Air Canada of “taking shots at the professional pilots who safely transport their passengers” and called on the airline to bring “serious proposals” to the bargaining table.

“Air Canada continues to post record profits—and reward its executives handsomely—while expecting pilots to accept below market compensation,” the union said.

ALPA also said it will be opening its strike headquarters in Toronto beginning Sept. 14, which it said will ensure the Air Canada pilots are “fully supported if a strike occurs” by tracking their whereabouts, keeping them updated on the status of the strike, and repatriating them if needed.

A shutdown would impact Air Canada’s 110,000 daily customers and its nearly 670 daily scheduled flights. According to Transport Canada, Air Canada accounted for 51 percent of all available seat-kilometres in the domestic air market in 2022.

Rousseau said while a “managed” shutdown would be an inconvenience to customers, it is the “only responsible course available to us.” He said the company is attempting to communicate about the negotiations with its customers as well as lower the risk of them being stranded by “using our goodwill policy to change or defer imminent travel at no cost.”

Air Canada customers who have their flights cancelled due to a shutdown will be notified and be eligible for a full refund, according to the airline.

The company said in the event of a shutdown, its Air Canada Express flights will continue operating, as will third-party carriers like Jazz and PAL Airlines. However, those partners only carry approximately 20 percent of Air Canada’s daily customers.

Air Canada’s comments come weeks after a nationwide rail strike by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City. The federal government requested binding arbitration to bring an end to the strike after contract negotiations between the two rail companies and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference failed Aug. 22, resulting in 9,300 rail workers being locked out.

The union had been requesting higher wages, increased safety, and a better work-life balance for its workers, but the two rail companies said the numerous offers they made were rejected. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Aug. 28 the decision to bring the strike to an end was done “reluctantly,” but “serious public safety concerns” had been raised because shipments of essential items like propane for hospitals and chlorine for drinking water were at risk.