Air Canada is preparing to suspend most of its flights starting next Sunday amid negotiations that are nearing a standstill with its pilots over “excessive wage demands,” the company said Monday.
“Air Canada announced today that it is finalizing its emergency plans to suspend most of its operations,” the Montreal-based company said in a statement.
The company has been negotiating for 15 months with the union representing Air Canada’s 5,200 pilots, but “the parties are very far apart” in their negotiations.
The company explains that “flights across the entire network” could be progressively cancelled before a complete shutdown, if the union announces a strike and if there is a “lock-out”, the English term for the temporary closure of a company decided by its authorities in response to a dispute with its workers.
The total service interruption could occur on Wednesday 18 September at midnight (04:00 GMT), the company said.
The pilots, who voted in August to strike based on “needs” amid negotiations, are pushing to bring their wages into line with those of their American counterparts.
But Air Canada estimates that their demands “far exceed the average wage increase in Canada.”
Air Canada serves 47 countries and carries an average of 110,000 people per day on its 670 flights.
Contacted by AFP, the union has not yet responded.
Flights operated by subsidiary Air Canada Express will not be affected because they are offered by third-party carriers, although they serve connections with Air Canada itself.
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