Air Canada AC.TO is finalizing plans to droop most of its operations, probably beginning Sunday, as talks with the pilots’ union attain an deadlock over “rigid” pay calls for, the nation’s largest airline stated on Monday.
Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, function about 670 flights a day. Except they attain an settlement with the union, the closure may have an effect on 110,000 passengers a day, inflicting widespread disruption.
The airline’s pilots have been pushing to shut the pay hole with their U.S. counterparts, who managed to succeed in profitable labor offers in 2023 amid a pilot scarcity and powerful journey demand.
“Air Canada believes there may be nonetheless time to succeed in an settlement with our pilot group, supplied that ALPA moderates its wage calls for, which far exceed the typical Canadian wage improve,” CEO Michael Rousseau stated Monday.
The Air Line Pilots Affiliation (ALPA), which represents greater than 5,200 Air Canada pilots, didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.
Talks between the airline and the union are persevering with, however the two sides stay far aside, the corporate added.
ALPA pilots have beforehand stated present pay charges at U.S. rival Delta Air Strains DAL.N are as much as 45 % increased than the Canadian service’s hourly pay charges.
“We perceive their (Air Canada pilots’) frustration, however we additionally word that the scenario is just not precisely comparable given the obstacles to entry round pilot provide within the U.S.,” TD Cowen analyst Thomas Fitzgerald wrote in a word final week.
The union and the airline entered a compulsory three-week cooling-off interval, throughout which the union can not strike, on August 27.
Air Canada anticipates that standard operations will resume inside seven to 10 days as soon as the total closure is carried out.
Flights via its system can be canceled for 3 days, with a whole shutdown starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sept. 18.
The airline’s shares have fallen greater than 18 % this yr.
The corporate is in talks with different airways to accommodate its stranded passengers in case of flight cancellations, it stated.
