Air Canada is finalizing contingency plans to suspend most of its operations as negotiations with its pilots union near an impasse, it said in a statement Monday.
The airline and its subsidiary Air Canada Rouge are preparing to gradually suspend operations over a three-day period, starting as early as September 15.
If no agreement is reached, the carrier or union will likely issue a 72-hour strike notice or a lockout notice to initiate a planned three-day shutdown.
Discussions are ongoing between Air Canada and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents more than 5,200 pilots at Canada’s largest airlines, but the two sides remain far apart, the company said.
“Air Canada believes there is still time to reach an agreement with the pilot group if ALPA relaxes its wage demands, which are well above the average Canadian wage increase rate,” Chief Executive Michael Rousseau said in a statement Monday.
In last month’s labour dispute, 98 percent of pilots voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move, and the union and airlines began a three-week cooling-off period required by Canadian law on Aug. 27.
Pilots want to match their U.S. counterparts
Air Canada pilots have been pushing for unprecedented pay hikes to narrow the pay gap with higher-paid U.S. pilots who signed record contracts for 2023 amid a pilot shortage and strong demand for travel.
“…we’re in the same airspace, flying the exact same routes, flying the same passengers, yet these pilots are being paid significantly more than we are,” Charlene Hady, president of the Air Canada union, told The Canadian Press last month.
Between March and September of last year, pilots for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines reached agreements that included pay increases of 34 to 40 percent over four years.
Earlier this year, WestJet pilots ratified a new agreement, averting a strike.
Air Canada also expects it will take seven to 10 days for normal operations to resume after a full closure is implemented.
The company said it was in discussions with other airlines about how to accommodate stranded passengers if flights were canceled, and that flights operating under the Air Canada Express brand would remain operational because they are operated by third-party airlines.
ALPA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
