Air Canada braces for shutdown with no agreement in pilot dispute

Air Canada is making contingency plans for a near total shutdown of operations as pay talks with the pilot’s union have stalled.

Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge plan to gradually suspend flights over three days, from next week.

Unless the airline improves its offer, the union will likely call a 72-hour strike notice or a lockout notice.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) represents more than 5,000 pilots.

“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 CEO Michael Rousseau.

Pilots voted in favor of industrial action last month by an unanimous margin.

Air Canada’s pilots have demanded a big pay rise to keep them close to pilot wages in the US.

“We’re flying the same passengers in the same airspace on some of the very same routes, and those pilots are being compensated dramatically more than us,” said Charlene Hudy, head of the union’s Air Canada chapter.

ALPA says Delta Air Lines pilots get as much as 45% more than those at Air Canada based on hourly pay rates.

If Air Canada does wind down all operations, it says it would take about a week to fully resume all services again.