Air Canada prepares for shutdown of operations due to labour disruption

Talks between Air Canada 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 at odds. Unless an agreement is reached by 15 September, either party may issue a 72-hour strike or lockout notice, which would trigger the carrier’s three-day wind-down plan.

Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada, commented: “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.”

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% of Air Canada’s daily customers, many of whom ultimately connect on Air Canada flights. 

For customers

All customers whose flights are cancelled by Air Canada would be notified and will be eligible for a full refund.

The airline has also been arranging with other carriers to secure space for customers in the event of Air Canada flight cancellations. Unfortunately, though, 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 later, may be the only options available.

Since 27 August, Air Canada has had in place a goodwill policy allowing customers holding bookings for travel between 15 and 23 September 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.

Impact

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.

Under the plan to potentially suspend flying, an orderly wind-down of operations would begin once the 72-hour strike or lockout notice is issued. Flights throughout the system would be progressively cancelled over three days, with a complete shutdown as early as 00:01 EDT on Wednesday 18 September. Some activities would need to start as early as Friday 13 September, including the cancellation of some holiday packages and the grounding of some aircraft.

Air Canada projects that unless a settlement is achieved within the 72-hour notice period, the number of passengers affected by the suspension plan will reach approximately 110,000 daily. Air Canada operates globally to 47 countries on six continents with a fleet of 252 aircraft, which will have to be repositioned or repatriated along with their crews.

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