MONTREAL, Canada – Air Canada, on Monday said that it is finalizing contingency plans to suspend most of its operations. Talks between the company and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), representing more than 5,200 pilots at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, continue, but the parties remain far apart.
“Unless an agreement is reached, beginning on September 15, 2024, either party may issue a 72-hour strike or lock-out notice, which would trigger the carrier’s three-day wind-down plan,” Air Canada said in a press release.
“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. 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. 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,” said Michael Rousseau, president and chief executive officer of Air Canada.
“We understand and apologize for the inconvenience this would cause our customers. However, a managed shutdown is the only responsible course available to us. We are publicizing our plans to give the more than 110,000 people who travel with us each day greater certainty and the opportunity to reduce the risk of being stranded by using our goodwill policy to change or defer imminent travel at no cost. We are also alerting the Government of Canada to the potential disruption’s impact upon Canadians.”
Air Canada Express flights will continue to operate, as third-party carriers Jazz and PAL Airlines provide these services. However, these regional partners only carry about 20 per cent of Air Canada’s daily customers, many of whom ultimately connect on Air Canada flights.
Air Canada said its first consideration is the needs of customers and providing peace of mind.
The airline has also been arranging with other carriers to secure space for customers in the event of Air Canada flight cancellations. Customers will be notified by Air Canada or their travel agency if options for travel on another carrier are identified for them. Unfortunately, seats on other carriers are expected to be very limited across all airlines, and refunds or accepting a future travel credit, or agreeing to travel on Air Canada at a later date, may be the only options available.
Since August 27, Air Canada has had in place a goodwill policy allowing customers holding bookings on any fare type with travel between September 15 and 23, 2024, to make changes if they wish to at no cost or to receive a credit for future travel. This policy will be expanded as warranted.
Under Canada’s Airline Passenger Protection Regulations, customers in Canada are not eligible for compensation for delayed or cancelled flights, meals, hotels or other incidental expenses for situations outside the carrier’s control such as a labour disruption. Air Canada will in all cases inform passengers of their rights under applicable rules if their flight is cancelled or delayed.
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge presently operate close to 670 daily flights on average and carry more than 110,000 passengers within Canada or internationally. Every day, Air Canada flights bring about 24,000 Canadians back home from abroad and return about 15,000 foreigners visiting Canada to their home country.
