Air Canada, which operates nearly 430 daily flights between Canada and the U.S. at over 50 U.S. airports, is prepared to start canceling several dozen flights ahead of a weekend lockout of flight attendants.
Air Canada said it will gradually suspend operations over three days, “to provide customers certainty” ending with “a complete cessation of flying by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge” on Saturday.
On Thursday, following “eight months of good faith negotiations” with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 10,000 employees, Air Canada clarified its offer to union members. Under the proposal, the airline has offered a 38 percent increase in total compensation over four years. Hourly rates would reach as high as $94 in the first year, while senior flight attendants would earn an average of $87,000 annually, and 20 percent of flight attendants would earn $90,000 or more per year.
According to Air Canada, employees will also receive “significant” improvements to health benefits and pension plans, including its pension plan.
During a press conference, Air Canada’s Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, EVP, Chief HR Officer stated: “We are very disappointed by the actions of CUPE, which will potentially inconvenience hundreds of thousands of customers and Canadians. This is a situation that was and still is avoidable. We remain available to continue the negotiations.”
Mark Nasr, Air Canada’s EVP and COO, commented, “Air Canada is a very complex system; it simply is not the kind of system we can start or stop at the push of a button.”
“Our latest offer included a 38 per cent increase in total compensation over four years that would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada, along with provisions for ground pay and other work-life balance, career and pension improvements. At the same time, we asked for no concessions from the union. Given this, while we remain available for discussions with CUPE, we have requested government-directed arbitration as we now view it as the only certain avenue to bring closure to bargaining and mitigate the impact on travellers, business and the Canadian economy,” Nasir stated in a press release.
Once the lockout begins, Canada Air may not offer flights for up to a week, even if the company quickly reaches a deal with the union.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
