Why the Air Canada deal fell through

Published 9:00 pm Monday, June 27, 2005

The Globe and Mail in Toronto took a long look at why Air Canada pilots rejected a contract deal, which led to the airline’s cancellation last week of its deal for 32 777s and 787s. The jist of it is that an internal conflict between rival factions within the airline pilots’ union — one made up of former Canadian Airlines pilots, the other comprised of pilots from the original Air Canada — sank the deal. (The two airlines merged in 2000).

The heritage Air Canada pilots are unhappy with the seniority lists that were generated after the merger and, the other faction claims, they used this contract vote to express their displeasure.

Key Quote: “In effect, the new aircraft were to be held hostage to their seniority demands.”

Here are links to two stories on the topic:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050628/RAIR28/TPBusiness/TopStories

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050628/RACPILOTS28/TPBusiness/Canadian