Air Canada asks federal government to intervene as flight cancellations underway
Air Canada has asked the federal government to send to prevent a strike by the airline’s 10,000 flight attendants that would be devastating for both the airline and the Canadian travelling public.
Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer and Public Affairs, Air Canada, told a media briefing at a Toronto airport hotel that Air Canada is “working really hard to get a deal at the table — that’s where you get the best deal — but we’ve hit an impasse.”
Meloul-Wechsler continued: “When we hit the impasse we did offer CUPE consensual arbitration, they refused that. We’re still available for negotiations. We’re still available for consensual arbitration. Should that all not materialize, we do have to think about the very serious disruption that would ensue [as the result of a work stoppage] and at that point, we have asked for the government to consider intervening if we get to that point, but we are doing everything in our power to avoid getting to that point.”
Minister asks union to respond
In a post on X today [Aug. 14], Federal Minister of Jobs and Families, Patty Hadju writes: “I have met with both parties throughout the bargaining process and strongly urged them to come to an agreement. Air Canada submitted a request that I make a referral under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to send the parties to binding arbitration. I have asked the union to respond to the employer’s request.”
She continued: “During bargaining processes, the Labour minister’s key role is to provide both the employer and union with the tools they need to reach an agreement. Federal mediators are willing and able to work with parties around the clock until they reach a deal. I am closely monitoring this situation and will provide any and all resources to help them reach an agreement.”
And Minister Hadju concluded her post, writing: “I understand this dispute is causing a great deal of frustration and anxiety to Canadians who are travelling or worrying about how they will get home. I urge both parties to put their differences aside, come back to the bargaining table and get this done now for the many travellers who are counting on you.”
The Minister has now advised that the Union has asked to have until Friday, August 15th at 12 pm EST to respond and the she has agreed to the Union’s request.
Air Canada outlines preparations
“We find CUPE’s decision to strike very [regrettable] and the impact that this is going to have on customers is profound and we’re going to do everything possible to support them throughout,” observed Mark Nasr, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Air Canada, before he outlined the steps that the carrier is already taking in preparation for strike action by its flights attendants.
Nasr explained that: “In terms of the cancellations, Air Canada is a very complex system. It covers over 40,000 employees, over 250 aircraft operating to 200 destinations in over 65 countries – it is simply not the kind of system that we can start or stop at the push of a button.”
He continued: “In order to have a safe and orderly wind-down, we need to begin now. That includes a first set of cancellations that were processed this morning [Thurs Aug 14] affecting largely long-haul, international flights due to depart tonight, providing as much advanced notice as we can to customers and the cancellations will proceed and grow in magnitude.”
Nasr said that: “By tomorrow evening [Fri., Aug 15], we expect to have cancelled flights affecting over 100,000 customers and then, of course, by the time we get to 1 am on Saturday morning [Aug 16], we will be completely grounded.”
And he added: “We expect that that will affect 130,000 customers a day, including 25,000 Canadians a day that we usually bring home from abroad, who are at risk of being stranded.”
Taking care of customers
“Our first priority,” Nasr said, “is to take care of our customers. Any customer that’s cancelled will receive a prompt notification via email and SMS messaging. We’re going to make every attempt we can to rebook our customers on over 120 other airlines, including on our competitors.
“But,” he cautioned, “because this is the peak of the summer travel season, there are very few seats available out there.”
He continued: “To those customers who we are unable to re-accommodate, we’ll offer them a choice of two (2) options. The first is a full refund of their ticket and any associated Air Canada services. And the second, is an option to rebook their travel for a later date without any change fee.”
Union disrupts briefing
Air Canada’s media availability session was abruptly ended after it was disrupted at least twice by CUPE flight attendant members who stood in front of the Air Canada executives holding protest signs.
Go to https://www.aircanada.com/media/air-canada-and-air-canada-rouge-flight-attendant-negotiations/ for more.
