MONTREAL — Air Canada is finalizing contingency plans to suspend most of its operations now that talks with the ALPA are “nearing [an] impasse over [the] union’s excessive wage demands,” according to the airline. Negotiations between the airline and the Air Line Pilots Association have been ongoing since June 2023. On Aug.
26 Air Canada and the ALPA entered a 21-day cooling off period that follows the end of federal conciliation. Talks continue but the parties remain far apart, according to Air Canada. Unless an agreement is reached, beginning on Sept.
15, 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 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 CEO of Air Canada. “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.” “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 .