70 per cent of Air Canada pilots willing to walk away if pay doesn't improve, union boss says

Story by Special to National Post

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Air Canada logos are seen on the tails of planes at the airport in Montreal, Que., on June 26, 2023.© Provided by National Post

“It’s not justifiable that our American counterparts — flying the same airplanes, same airspace, same routes — that they’re making twice as much as us, if not more,” declares Charlene Hudy, first officer on the 737 Max and chair of the Air Canada pilots union.

For the past seven months, Hudy, 41, has been hammering this message at the negotiating table with Air Canada, demanding parity with American counterparts on behalf of the nearly 5,300 pilots on Air Canada’s roster. A decade ago, pilot salaries at Air Canada and United Airlines were nearly equal; today, the Americans earn twice as much.

The salary range for Canadian pilots is roughly $40,000 for a new hire to more than $200,000 for an experienced captain.

Make no mistake, I’m not inclined to be overly sympathetic to unions. But this airline’s antics — ranking dead last among North America’s 10 major airlines in on-time performance in 2023, and the axing of western Canadian routes — predispose me, a million-mile flyer with the carrier, to listen to what the pilots have to say.

And the airline can afford to be fair. The company posted a $2.28-billion profit in 2023 ($1.71-billion in adjusted net income). For that, Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau was rewarded with a $2.6-million bonus. And, Hudy confirms, executives at Air Canada get compensated at rates on par with their counterparts working for legacy airlines in the U.S.

Hudy is an airline pilot. It’s not inconceivable that she could fly from Saskatoon, where she lives, to meet me in Calgary for an interview to talk about this unfolding situation. It’s just a short hop between prairie cities. But no. “I can’t fly on Air Canada from Saskatoon to Calgary, or Regina to Calgary,” she winces, “without being routed through Toronto or Vancouver.” We agree to meet online instead.

Hudy isn’t exactly who I expect to find in the captain’s seat, negotiating on behalf of a union where only 7.7 per cent of the pilots are female. Her peers assure me she’s the kind of “next generation leader needed at this watershed moment in Canada’s aviation history.” After a few meetings with Hudy, I concur; she’s as talented as this job requires, and not another affirmative action program gone wrong. In airline vernacular, she’s a spitfire.

She joined the Air Cadets in junior high and earned a glider’s licence before she even held a licence to drive a car. Prior to joining Air Canada, she was a flight instructor in Yorkton, Sask., and then headed north, and farther north, flying above the 60th parallel for First Air.

“I would fly from Iqaluit to Resolute Bay,” she grins, “and they would have a notice saying, when you’re doing your walk around — to make sure the airplane’s OK before you take it flying — beware of the polar bears.”

Like many pilots, Hudy’s first love is flying. And, as she explains, that’s the root of the challenge for the pilots union: “Because you love your job so much, you get undervalued right away. Since you love your work, you’re not going to really be paid all that well. You’re expected to work long hours and give a lot because, hey, at the end of the day, you get to love what you do, whereas a lot of people can’t say the same thing.”

In these contract negotiations, her aim is making sure Air Canada pilots are valued properly for the work they do. It’s that simple. Her union’s talking points: Air Canada pilots took deep pay cuts after 9/11 to help save the carrier and keep Canadians flying; other legacy pilot groups have recouped these sacrifices, but not Air Canada pilots.

And this all comes with a warning. If fair compensation isn’t on offer, this airline should expect a talent drain of epic proportions.

“They’re waiting to see what happens with our negotiations,” Hudy shares, “but seven out of 10 of my pilots are thinking — if these negotiations aren’t historic in nature, they will either exercise their option to work south of the border, go overseas or they’re going to completely leave the profession.” And she’s got survey data gathered by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) to back up her claims.

“Ten per cent of our pilot group, so about 500 pilots, are active with a U.S. immigration firm to get their E2-B visa to then work in the States,” she reports. Canadian aviators don’t automatically have green card eligibility in America but cross-border momentum is picking up, she explains, because pilots can now apply for a U.S. visa without a job offer in hand.

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Still, she’s pitching a win-win to the airline. A robust pilot squad is essential to Air Canada’s future success, she posits. American carriers who “modernized their pilot contracts” have been able to improve on-time-performance, make money, expand routes and subsequently lower ticket prices.

Can we talk routing, just for a moment, I interject. Why the heck is the airline axing direct flights to prairie hubs, first-tier routes, and at the same time adding flights from Toronto and Montreal to tertiary markets — destinations like Toledo, Ohio?

Hudy doesn’t take the bait on my theories about Air Canada and WestJet divvying up the country. “Great questions for Air Canada,” she chuckles. And then she proceeds to map out how her airline brings Americans across the border to Toronto or Montreal, and then flies them overseas.

Plan A, obviously, is to get a deal at the table, but what’s Hudy’s Plan B if Air Canada doesn’t play fair? Right now, she says, we’re committed to negotiating at the table. “But, if we can’t make any more progress in mediation and we have to exercise our right under the Canada Labour Code with the notice of dispute and potential job action, we will do that,” Hudy explains, her voice even. “We’re not there yet, but it is a step we’re willing to take, because we need to be valued appropriately.”

Her personal aim is to get back into the cockpit. But she has a job to do first, and that’s to get Air Canada pilots in the same ballpark as their American counterparts.

Don’t take us for granted is her rallying cry to the airline. As a frequent flier, I echo that sentiment.

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