Negotiations often take unexpected twists and turns, but it seems Air Canada is writing its own playbook for bargaining with pilots. The airline announced today that it is finalizing contingency plans to suspend most of its operations. While the airline said there is still time to reach an agreement, it added that the "parties remain far apart.
" Strike, lockout or agreement The intriguing part of this announcement is that if Air Canada and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) cannot reach an agreement by September 15, 2024, either party may issue a 72-hour strike or lockout notice, which would trigger the airline's three-day wind-down plan. The key word is "may," so while the airline can plan for a lockout it has no idea what the ALPA will do if negotiations fail. To reach an agreement, Air Canada said the ALPA would need to moderate its wage demands, which the airline believes "far exceed average Canadian wage increases.
" The airline said it has an obligation to do everything it can to avoid the chaos abrupt airline shutdowns cause passengers, particularly from an increasingly likely work stoppage. Some pilots could reportedly receive pay bumps as much as $100,000. That obligation includes the 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 coming Sunday.
Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau said he understands and apologizes for the inconvenience this would cause customers, adding: "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 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.
" If the operations are suspended, Air Canada Express flights will continue to operate, as third-party carriers Jazz and PAL Airlines provide these services. While that sounds beneficial, only around 20% of Air Canada's daily customers use these regional partners, and many of them ultimately connect with Air Canada flights. A bleak outlook ahead On average, the two mainline airlines operate nearly 670 daily flights, carrying more than 110,000 passengers on domestic and international routes.
Every day, Air Canada flights bring home about 24,000 Canadians from abroad and return around 15,000 visitors to their home country. An orderly wind down of operations would begin once a 72-hour strike or lockout notice is issued, which can happen any time after 00:01 EDT on Sunday, September 15. Flights throughout the system would be progressively canceled over three days, with the network completely shut down as early as 00:01 EDT on Wednesday, September 18.
More than 98% are in favor of a strike. Air Canada said some shutdown activities would start as early as Friday, September 13, including canceling some holiday packages and grounding some aircraft. The airline believes that a gradual shutdown is the only responsible way to manage such a labor disruption for customers and employees.
Air Canada operates 252 aircraft to 180 airports in 47 countries, and those aircraft and their crews will need to be repositioned or repatriated so that the airline can more quickly restore regular service when the time comes. However, Air Canada estimated that it would take up to seven to ten days to do so after a complete shutdown. More fuel was added to the fire when the airline said it would seek government intervention if no settlement is achieved to avoid significant disruptions for Canadian travelers and other stakeholders.
Without a settlement, the number of affected passengers will progressively increase to 110,000 daily after 72 hours, which is why the airline is already planning this orderly shutdown..
