Air Canada is working on plans to start suspending operations ahead of a looming pilot strike, the carrier said in a statement Monday morning.
Flight cancellations could start as early as Friday.
Unless a settlement is reached by Sunday, either Air Canada or the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents 5,200 Air Canada pilots, could issue a 72-hour lockout or strike notice.
Air Canada president and CEO Michael Rousseau said in a statement that while there was still time to reach an agreement with the pilots, “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.”
The 72-hour shutdown notice period could begin anytime after midnight on Sunday, with operations expected to come to a complete halt by Wednesday, Sept. 18. However, some operations would have to start winding down as early as Friday, the airline said.
Duncan Dee, former Air Canada chief operating officer, told Media, “Air Canada will start winding down their operations by moving aircraft closer and closer to their bases, where they have crews and mechanics available to take care of those aircraft during a disruption so that in a restart of operations, they can do so much more quickly, with much less impact on travelers.”
Rosseau said 80 per cent of Air Canada’s passengers could be affected by work stoppages. The airline said it will begin an “orderly shutdown” of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations once a strike or lockout notice is issued.
Air Canada Express flights will continue to operate, as third-party carriers Jazz and PAL Airlines provide these services. However, these regional partners carry only about 20 per cent of Air Canada’s daily customers, many of whom ultimately connect on Air Canada flights.
The airline said a work stoppage could affect 110,000 passengers a day.