Air Canada prepares for potential shutdown ahead of pilots’ strike deadline
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Air Canada is finalizing contingency plans to suspend most of its operations.
The airline says contract talks with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), representing more than 5,200 pilots at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, are nearing an impasse.
Unless an agreement is reached by Sept. 15, Air Canada said in a press release, the union could issue a 72-hour strike notice, or the airline could issue a lockout notice. Either will trigger the carrier’s three-day winddown plan.
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Air Canada says the parties have come to a tentative agreement on several items, but wages remain a key sticking point, reports the Canadian Press.
How much do Air Canada pilots make? After a 10-year contract, union wants better wages
“Air Canada believes there is still time to reach an agreement with our pilot group, provided ALPA moderates its wage demands, which far exceed average Canadian wage increases,” said Michael Rousseau, president and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada in the release.
The pilots have previously said the current pay rates at U.S. rival Delta Air Line are up to 45% higher than the Canadian carrier’s hourly pay rates, reports the Reuters News Agency.
However, says TD Cowen analyst Thomas Fitzgerald, the comparison “is not exactly apples to apples given the barriers to entry around pilot supply in the U.S.”
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Canadians have seen the chaos that abrupt airline shutdowns cause for travellers, said Rousseau. Therefore, he adds, a possible impasse “obliges us to do everything we can to protect our customers from an increasingly likely work stoppage.”
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“This includes the extremely difficult decision to begin an orderly shutdown of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge once a 72-hour strike or lockout notice is given, possibly as early as this Sunday.”
The airline is apologizing for the planned shutdown and says it knows this will “inconvenience” customers. However, it says “a managed shutdown is the only responsible course available.”
Air Canada says it is making the shutdown plan public to provide customers the opportunity to reduce the risk of being stranded. Customers will be permitted to change or defer imminent travel at no cost.
Air Canada Express flights will continue to operate. Third-party carriers Jazz and PAL Airlines provide these services. However, those flights only account for about 20 percent of Air Canada’s daily customers, says the airline, and many of them connect on Air Canada flights.
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operate close to 670 daily flights on average and carry more than 110,000 passengers, reports the Canadian Press. If flights are suspended, Air Canada says it will take up to seven to 10 days to resume normal operations after a complete shutdown.
The airline’s shares are down more than 18% this year.
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