Anyone planning a flight on Canada’s preeminent airline in the next week might want to reconsider their plans or make alternate arrangements lest they get stranded if Air Canada pilots go out on strike. That’s because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flatly ruled out any government intervention to prevent a work stoppage that could strand millions of travellers and stop cargo deliveries to tens of thousands of businesses.Speaking in Montreal on Friday, Trudeau told reporters he has no plans to force sides back to the bargaining table ahead of a Sunday deadline to reach a deal between the company and the union representing 5,200 pilots.If a deal isn’t reached by then, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has threatened to issue 72-hour strike notice, meaning pilots could walk off the job as early as next Wednesday. .However, the airline could start winding up some operations and cancelling flights this weekend to move planes closer to their home bases.“Every time there’s a strike, people say, ‘Oh, you’ll get the government to come in and fix it.’ We’re not going to do that,” Trudeau said, speaking to reporters in Montreal on Friday.“I’m not going to put my thumb on the scale on either side. It is up to Air Canada and the pilots union to do the work to figure out how to make sure that they are not hurting millions of Canadians who rely on air travel, thousands and thousands of businesses across this country who will be hurt if they can’t get the work done at the bargaining table.”.If it goes ahead, it will be the fourth major job action to hit Canada’s transportation networks in a little more than a year, coming on the heels of the West Coast ports strike, the WestJet walk off and the lockout of both major railways last month.In all those cases the government intervened to force sides back to the table.Instead, Trudeau said the government would continue to “put pressure” on Air Canada and the union to come to terms.Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon met with both parties yesterday and negotiations were set to continue on Friday afternoon.Outstanding issues include wages, benefits and pay..“We continue to meet with Air Canada today in an effort to reach a new contract at the negotiating table, and avoid legal job action and the effects of that on our passengers,” ALPA chair Charlene Hudy, said in a statement.Meanwhile Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said in a statement 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.”But business leaders on both sides of the border weren’t impressed.In a rare joint statement, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council of Canada urged the federal government to step in by forcing arbitration.“Every year, millions of Canadians and Americans travel back and forth by air, as do critical, time sensitive goods. The Government of Canada must take swift action to avoid another labour disruption that negatively impacts cross-border travel and trade, a damaging outcome for both people and businesses,” it said.
