Northern airlines say Air Canada strike wouldn’t impact their flights
Strike or lockout at national carrier could happen next week; northerners’ connecting flights could be affected
Representatives for Canadian North and Calm Air say that Air Canada’s looming work stoppage will not directly affect their flights. (File photo)
Two northern airlines say their flights won’t be affected if Air Canada pilots go on strike next week.
“We don’t anticipate direct impacts to our operations should there be a strike,” Canadian North spokesperson Lauren D’Oliveira said in an email Thursday.
Calm Air president Gary Bell echoed that.
“There shouldn’t be any impact on Calm Air,” Bell said in an interview Thursday. “Very few, if any, of our passengers connect beyond Winnipeg.”
Bell suggested, however, if travellers are flying from Nunavut to Winnipeg and catching a connecting flight to somewhere like Ottawa or Toronto, “they should probably consider going with a different carrier” from Air Canada.
“But in terms of any travel on Calm Air specifically, no effect whatsoever,” he said.
Air Inuit, a third Arctic carrier, did not respond to a request for comment on the potential impact of an Air Canada pilots strike.
The collective agreement between Air Canada and its more than 2,000 pilots expired nearly a year ago, on Sept. 29, 2023.
On Aug. 22, the pilots voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of taking job action if no agreement could be reached with Air Canada, according to a news release from the Air Line Pilots Association Canada, the union representing the pilots.
The pilots are seeking improved pay and benefits in a new collective agreement.
In another release Aug. 30, the pilots union said negotiations between Air Canada and its pilots had stalled.
When conciliation ended, the two sides entered a 21-day cooling off, or waiting, period starting Aug. 27 before they could be in a legal strike or lockout position.
With that period nearly ended, a 72-hour notice of strike or lockout could be issued by either side as early as Sunday.
In a news release Thursday, Air Canada called on the federal government to force the two parties into binding arbitration to avert a disruption for travellers should negotiations fail.
Pilots for all three major northern regional airlines — Canadian North, Calm Air and Air Inuit — are members of the Air Line Pilots Association Canada, but will not be affected if Air Canada pilots strike.
Mark my words, give it 12 mos. and Canadian will be tapping on your pockets for airfare and cargo increases because they need to pay their pilots more to be competitive with the market . Air Canada leads the market but will pull all the rest up….
So?
Big airlines such as Air Canada, West jet, Delta, British Airways, etc don’t have an effect on small airlines such as Canadian North. Yes, the pilots have the same union but each carrier is different. The big carrier pilots make way more than small carriers. The bigger the airline, the more money they make. Mark KY words, this will not effect Canadian North pilots