Air Canada is preparing to suspend “most of its operations” as a pilot strike looms amid ongoing negotiations with union the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) over a new contract.
“Talks between the company and the [union] representing more than 5,200 pilots at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, continue, but the parties remain far apart,” the Montreal-based airline said on 9 September.
If the talks remain deadlocked, beginning on 15 September “either party may issue a 72-hour strike or lock-out notice, which would trigger the carrier’s three-day wind-down plan”.
Chief executive Michael Rousseau says the union must “[moderate] its wage demands which far exceed average Canadian wage increases”.
“However, 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,” he adds.
“A managed shut-down is the only responsible course available to us,” he says.
The airline is informing its customers as well as asking the government of Canada to prepare for potential disruptions nationwide.
Air Canada Express flights, operated by third-party carriers Jazz and PAL Airlines, will continue to operate, even if pilots at the mainline carrier launch a strike
”However, these regional partners only carry about 20% of Air Canada’s daily customers, many of whom ultimately connect on Air Canada flights,” the company says.
Late last month, pilots overwhelmingly voted to authorise a strike after the union said the airline’s management had ignored their concerns. In all, 98% of ALPA members participated in the vote, and of those, 98% voted in favour of a strike, if called by the union.
The contract under which they are currently working stipulates ”pay rates and quality-of-life provisions negotiated in 2014”, ALPA said at the time.
Negotiations on a new agreement began in June 2023 and entered private mediation in January 2024. In June, as talks dragged on, the union decided to file a notice of dispute and enter conciliation because the two sides were unable to reach a new collective agreement.
In July, the airline reported a C$410 million ($302 million) profit during the second quarter, down more than 50% from the same period last year, as costs rose and as loads and yields declined in an ever-tougher international market. Revenue during the three-month period rose slightly year on year to C$5.5 billion, while expenses rose 9% year on year to C$5.1 billion.
