Air Canada wants Ottawa to intervene if deal with pilots union isn't reached

anxieties are ramping up for many domestic and international Travelers they're watching the ongoing contract dispute between Air Canada and its Pilots very closely both sides are still at the bargaining table but the airline could suspend flights as early as Sunday it could upend hundreds of thousands of business trips vacations and cargo shipments the cbc's Megan Fitzpatrick is tracking the story and so Megan where do things stand with the talks at this point well as you mentioned Andrew they are ongoing to today and uh they are happening with the assistance of some federally uh appointed mediators a union representative we spoke with this morning said there has been some progress at the bargaining table this week but they're not there yet in terms of reaching a deal particularly on the issue of salaries um the union rep saying Air Canada just hasn't come to a the table yet with something that they could accept and wages is a key issue that union representative telling us that the um their counterparts that other airlines make twice as much as Air Canada Pilots according uh to the union and she says she knows of younger Pilots uh who have second jobs to make ends meet and to pay off the debt that they have incurred uh to get the qualifications and training they needed to become pilots in the first place Air Canada has called the wage demands from the union unreasonable wages is a key issue work hours and scheduling is a another key issue as well so if they don't reach a deal Andrew here's what's going to happen Sunday really is the key day that's when a 21-day cooling period is set to expire and when the company is in a legal position to start a lockout or and and or the union is in a legal strike position either side if they want to trigger that uh has to give a 72-hour notice so if a lockout or strike is triggered on Sunday it would take effect on Wednesday but Air Canada has said If either side makes that move on Sunday it will trigger a 3-day wind down period and that's as you mentioned when we'll see those flight cancellations really kicking in um they've got to get their planes back here they've got to get their staff back here uh so that's what that will look like but Air Canada has also warned some flights uh and operations might be affected as early as tomorrow some holiday packages they say specifically um and and other grounding of aircraft now today we were at the Union headquarters where they have been setting up their strike Center in the event that a strike goes ahead the union rep we met with says they don't want to be in this position here's more of what she told us Canadians need to really understand that we don't we do not want to be in this position we take our jobs incredibly seriously there's a lot of responsibility riding on our shoulders when we get into the flight deck and we want to get to the destinations safely and efficiently all over Canada North America and the world we don't want to be in this position we need Air Canada to negotiate a fair agreement with us now asked if the union will trigger that 72-hour notice on Sunday Andrew she said that is yet to be determent where does this leave passengers they have a few options right now um if they book their flights within a certain window and they're due to fly up until September 23rd they can rebook a flight at a later time without paying that change fee if people want to preemptively cancel their flights and try and book on another airline they can get their money back if they have that refundable ticket if they don't they are being offered a credit now if a strike goes ahead or a lockout goes ahead and people's flights are canceled by the airline they will be eligible for a full refund and what about the business impact of a potential stock on The Wider economy well we have been hearing from the business community in Canada today in Ottawa some groups held a news conference The Business Council of Canada the Canadian Chamber of Commerce the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and they are warning um about uh the impact the personal impact but also the business impact uh expressing their concerns about this and saying this is the last thing that Canadian businesses need right now is another disruption uh to the services that they rely on especially on the heels of those rail line disruptions we saw just a few weeks ago they were giving you know very uh concrete examples of the impact this might have the personal impact for people who are traveling to a wedding let's say or another important life event that can't be rescheduled business people who might be traveling to an important business meeting the cargo service that a Canada uh provides as well a lot of goods are shipped on Air Canada planes that businesses rely on manufacturers medical supplies so they really laid out what they think this impact uh might be and they're saying this labor dispute between Air Canada and its Pilots is a national issue and therefore the federal government has a duty and a responsibility to be ready to intervene here's what they're calling on Ottawa to do we're here to make sure that Canadians who have plans Canadians who have jobs Canadians who have expectations of reliable services to be available to them are given that chance and we know that the government of Canada has the mechanism in which to do that and we're simply asking them to prepare to do that in the event that an agreement cannot be reached which we all believe is best done at the negotiating table but we cannot allow for even a single day of a strike given the consequences on our already very fragile economy it would amount to government playing Russian roulette with our economy and we just can't afford that at this time these groups have sent a letter to labor Minister Steven McKinnon asking him to be ready to refer the matter to binding arbitration like he did with those rail companies Andrew so far what we're hearing from the minister this week is that he wants to see the two sides reach a deal at the table he says there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to get one Megan thank you the cbc's Megan Fitzpatrick here in our Toronto Newsroom