Summary
- Passengers whose flights have been canceled will be notified and be eligible for a 100% refund.
- Eligible Air Canada passengers can change flights for free amidst a possible pilot strike.
- The airline is preparing to shut down operations if an agreement is not reached by September 15th.
With a potential pilot strike on the horizon at Air Canada, the airline’s customers who planned to travel during that period are currently weighing the possibility of canceling flights or re-booking itineraries. The carriers themselves are currently making preparatory plans to wind down services in the event Air Canada does not reach an agreement with the pilots union and the strike does happen.
To cancel or not to cancel?
If 
Air Canada
does not reach an agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association
(ALPA) within the coming days, a pilot strike is inevitable, causing significant travel disruptions for the airline and its subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge
. However, this uncertainty has reportedly left the passengers booked to travel during that period in a bit of a pickle.
According to CBC, if a passenger’s flight has been canceled, the airline will notify them and will be eligible for a full refund, but there will not be any additional entitlement.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
However, the airline, following its goodwill policy, is now allowing passengers who are scheduled to travel between September 15th and 23rd, who booked their flights ON or BEFORE September 9th, to change their travel itineraries for free. These passengers can either prepone their travel plans to a date between September 9th to 14th or postpone their travels to anytime between September 24th and November 30th of this year.
This includes passengers who used Aeroplan
points to book their flights and passengers who have booked with Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express.
The airline is preparing
The airline is preparing to suspend operations if an agreement is not reached and the pilots are indeed to go on strike. The two parties have time till September 15th (Sunday), and if an agreement is not reached, the airline will begin suspending operations while also ensuring all the carrier’s aircraft, crew, and other resources are consolidated within the airline’s base.
Photo: Yannik Bikker | Shutterstock
If an agreement is not reached, the carrier will commence winding down operations and aim to be totally shut down by September 18th. The airline states that it will then need seven to ten days until it can fully restore operations.
While this operations suspension will impact Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge services, reports suggest it will not affect services operated by air canada express
, including Jazz and PAL.
Asking for a 30% pay rise
Reports suggest that the ALPA is asking for a 30% pay rise for its pilots, which would see over 5,000 of the airline’s pilots receive an immediate 20% raise followed by a progressive increase in the following years. Some pilot salaries will increase by $100,000 a year.
The key reason for the demand for a pay rise is that reports suggest that the airline’s pilots are compensated only half of what their competitors pay their pilots, and several of Air Canada’s pilots also have a second job out of necessity.
Photo: Angel DiBilio | Shutterstock
The carrier, however, states that the demanded raise significantly exceeds that of an average Canadian wage increase. In a recent CBC interview with the former COO of Air Canada, Duncan Dee, he stated that though there is a pay disparity between Air Canada pilots and pilots working in the US, to get a proper understanding, the whole compensation package should be considered and not just the pilots’ wages.
This is because while pilots in America are paid more, they are also required to co-fund their medical insurance, and many pilots in the US no longer have access to traditional pension plans, while pilots in Canada still do, and because of the public health care system, pilots in Canada save a considerable amount of money.