Air Canada announced Monday that it was finalising plans to suspend its majority of operations, which will likely begin Sunday, because talks with the union of pilots are at an impasse due to “inflexible” demands for wages. Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada, its low-cost airline, operate 670 flights each day.
If they do not reach an agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association by the end of the week, the shutdown will affect up to 110,000 passengers per day. The airline’s captains have been trying to close the gap between their salary and that of their US counterparts, who signed lucrative contracts in 2023 due to pilot shortages and high travel demand.
Charlene Hudy said that Air Canada should stop threatening disruptions in air travel, and instead come to the bargaining tables with serious proposals. This would keep the flagship Canadian carrier competitive on the global market for aviation. ALPA, the union that represents more than 5,200 of the airline’s pilots, is continuing to negotiate with the company, but both sides remain far apart.
NDC improves communication between Air India, travel agents and other travel sellers. It allows Air India to offer tailored offers, ancillary services and products, and pricing options to travel sellers around the world in real-time. Air India hopes to improve interactions with travel partners, and streamline the booking process for its customers, by adopting the 21.3 schema of IATA’s NDC.
Michael Rousseau, CEO of Air Canada, said that the company believes there is still enough time to reach a settlement with our pilot group if ALPA moderates their wage demands. These are far above the average wage increases in Canada. ALPA pilots had previously claimed that the current hourly pay rates of US rival Delta Air Lines were up to 45 percent higher than those of the Canadian carrier.
Thomas Fitzgerald, TD Cowen’s analyst, wrote last week that he understood the frustration of the Air Canada pilots but noted that the situation was not exactly comparable given the barriers around pilot supply in the US.
The union and the airline agreed to a cooling-off period of three weeks on August 27. During this time, the union could not go on strike. Air Canada estimates that normal operations will resume in seven to ten days, once the shutdown is complete. The company stated that it has been in contact with other airlines in order to accommodate its passengers in the case of flight cancellations.
The Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said in a statement that “Our government believes firmly in the collective bargaining processes and Canadians count on the parties to reach a deal.”
