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Air Canada Welcomes Landmark Agreement with its Pilots

MONTREAL, Oct. 31, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada welcomes today's confirmation by the Air Canada Pilots Association that its members have ratified a landmark agreement on collective agreement terms for ten years.

"This ten-year agreement with the Air Canada Pilots Association is a ground-breaking development which allows us to accelerate the implementation of our business strategy on a win-win basis with our pilots," said Calin Rovinescu, President and CEO of Air Canada. "The new agreement provides greater stability and long term cost certainty as well as a framework for a strong partnership with our pilots. It is also the most tangible indication of the shift in culture underway at Air Canada.

"With this agreement now in place, we can focus our efforts on long-term profitable growth at both Air Canada and rouge for the benefit of our employees and all of Air Canada's stakeholders. I thank the teams representing both ACPA and management for their insight, commitment and determination in reaching this agreement."

The agreement is subject to certain openers and benchmarks over the 10 year period.

In addition to labour stability and long term cost certainty, the agreement also provides for increased flexibility with respect to regional airline capacity purchase agreements to help ensure cost competitiveness. In addition, it facilitates the evolution of Air Canada rougeTM into a stronger leisure carrier with improved fleet renewal flexibility and terms. As well, the agreement provides additional codeshare and joint venture flexibility and scope.

The agreement has been approved by the Air Canada Board of Directors.

The Air Canada Pilots Association membership comprises approximately 3,000 pilots.

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013 served more than 35 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 73 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,316 airports in 192 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2014 for the fifth consecutive year. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.

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I'm always impressed at the voter turnout ACPA gets.

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/air-canada-pilots-ratify-new-agreement-with-air-canada-1963185.htm

Air Canada Pilots Ratify New Agreement with Air Canada

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 31, 2014) - Air Canada pilots have ratified the new agreement recently negotiated with the airline.

The pilots voted 84 per cent in favour of the new contract, with 92 per cent taking part in the vote.

"I'm very pleased that Air Canada pilots have voted to support this new agreement, which will provide our members with stable and secure employment, improved career progression, fair compensation and the opportunity to gain a better share of our airline's financial success," said ACPA President Captain Craig Blandford. "As well, this new agreement will provide Air Canada with the stability and flexibility it needs to grow, which is good for us all."

The new agreement provides Air Canada pilots with improvements to compensation, pension and work rules. It also provides Air Canada with a mechanism to gain labour stability with its pilots until September 2024 by achieving growth targets. If these targets are met, any disputes arising from negotiations in 2017, 2020 and 2023 will be resolved through a mediation/arbitration process.

"This vote demonstrates that the relationship between Air Canada and its pilots is improving, which is good for both parties and bodes well for the future success of our airline," Captain Blandford said.

About ACPA

The Air Canada Pilots Association is the largest professional pilot group in Canada, representing the more than 3,000 pilots who fly millions of passengers across Canada and around the world on Air Canada and Air Canada rouge. For more information, visit www.acpa.ca.

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From the beginning, (1996), ACPA began pioneering online voting, before that using phone-in voting alongside mail balloting until the online system was proven and became routine. Participation has been traditionally high.

As a retired guy who still watches these things from time to time I think it's a very positive step in a number of ways, but it primarily broadcasts a new relationship between AC management and AC pilots which I sense is earnestly desired and earnestly built by both sides. That's important for a lot of things for the airline well beyond just the importance of a positive labour relationship with the pilots.

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From the beginning, (1996), ACPA began pioneering online voting, before that using phone-in voting alongside mail balloting until the online system was proven and became routine. Participation has been traditionally high.

As a retired guy who still watches these things from time to time I think it's a very positive step in a number of ways, but it primarily broadcasts a new relationship between AC management and AC pilots which I sense is earnestly desired and earnestly built by both sides. That's important for a lot of things for the airline well beyond just the importance of a positive labour relationship with the pilots.

It's an interesting contrast with the state of pilot labor relations at AF and LH which can be described charitably as a dialogue of the stone deaf.

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..."dialogue of the stone deaf"

Well, as you know we've been there but that was then and this is now - the change is here and I think for good reasons that go beyond the old-fashioned notions of "one side caving", etc. The structure of the agreement, (as displayed here...I have no "pipeline"), I thought was a good one for both.

I haven't sussed the Lufthansa/Cockpit problems but the AF/SNPL issues may be partially tied to the AF447 accident which remains in the French courts even as the Second Expert's Report, (Contre-Expertise accident du Vol AF447, in French), was dismissed by AF earlier this year although it has essentially reinforced notions regarding the crew's performance. And the U.S. carriers are comparatively "quiet"...

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The airline industry could be used as an alternate definition of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

For all of the technocratic elements of just getting an aircraft safely loaded, fuelled, dispatched and operated from A to B, it's always been my view that sentiment is the ultimate motive force in commercial aviation. Investor and passenger confidence are the valves that control the inflow of money, which we know flows out at an astonishing rate.

While the tangibles in this deal are the subject of much debate, in my view the real deliverable, the one that will ultimately improve the working lives of the pilots, is the same as that which will serve the corporate goal - a sign to the investor and passenger community that Air Canada and its pilots are indeed capable of agreeing on a common vision and pursuing a long term game plan. While by no means a group hug, this step is at least a handshake.

After such a rocky time of managing to the quarter and fighting an underground labour fire (the festering wound of a completely whacked partisan intervention), the ability to turn efforts away from labour strife and toward improving the way we do things can only help.

It's a optimistic start. Whether that optimism translates into results is now up to the partners to this deal.

FWIW

Vs

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While the tangibles in this deal are the subject of much debate, in my view the real deliverable, the one that will ultimately improve the working lives of the pilots, is the same as that which will serve the corporate goal - a sign to the investor and passenger community that Air Canada and its pilots are indeed capable of agreeing on a common vision and pursuing a long term game plan.

I hope it lasts. The company extended an olive branch and the pilots accepted. There are many promises made by management and if they follow through on them they entire company will be much stronger and the career of pilot at AC will be much better. It has always seemed strange to me that the biggest things that could have, and should have, been done years ago never seemed to happen. Things like improved pairing quality and a proper flight trade system are miniscule in cost and have a huge impact on quality of life and morale and now, finally, the company has promised to fix them.

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