Air Canada Begs Federal Government to Step In And Prevent Costly Pilots Strike That Could Shut Airline Down From Sunday

Air Canada is begging the federal government to step in and try to prevent a costly strike by pilots that could see the Montreal-based carrier forced to shut down from Sunday unless last-ditch wage talks manage to break a deadlock between the airline and the pilots union.

Earlier this week, Air Canada warned that it would begin a three-day wind-down of all commercial flight operations on September 15 if the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) called on 5,000 pilots at Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, to go on strike.

The pilots union was released into a 21-day cooling-off by federal mediators period at the end of August, and the earliest that ALPA can call a strike is Sunday. The strike notice must provide Air Canada with at least 72 hours’ notice at which point the airline would start winding down operations.

The federal government has so far refused to force the two sides into binding arbitration in order to prevent a strike from taking place, but on Thursday, Air Canada urged Ottawa to rethink its decision, saying that any shut down could leave at least 110,000 passengers per day stranded and delay time-sensitive cargo such as life-saving medicines.

“With talks nearing an impasse and time for negotiation running out, the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of Canadians are hanging in the balance,” commented Michael Rousseau, the President and CEO of Air Canada.

“We are taking all measures to mitigate any impact, but the reality is even a short work stoppage at Air Canada could, given the complexity of our business operating on a global scale, cause prolonged disruption for customers.”

Air Canada has offered pilots a 30% pay rise over the course of a new contract, but ALPA is believed to be targeting wage hikes of up to 45% because this would create pay parity with their peers in the United States.

Rousseau has described its pay offer as “unprecedented,” and the airline says it’s impossible to compare the wage market in the United States with Canada.

While Air Canada says that it isn’t asking for an immediate intervention from the federal government, the airline wants Ottawa to step in should last ditch talks fail to break the deadlock.

That could take the form of binding arbitration under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. Air Canada believes the federal government has the power to implement binding arbitration before any strike begins.

The Air Canada chapter of ALPA insists, however, that Air Canada must improve upon its pay offer, arguing that the airline’s current proposal will still leave pilots short given the rising cost of living.