Air Canada court ruling sees ex-maintenance workers aim for $100M in compensation

Air Canada could have to pay more than $100m in compensation to workers who lost their jobs at maintenance centres more than a decade ago, say lawyers in a class-action suit. A 2022 ruling in Quebec Superior Court found the airline violated federal law by failing to keep three centres operational when Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. -- the contractor that ran them -- collapsed in 2012. Air Canada has filed an appeal, which has not yet been heard. This week, the judge decided on a formula to calculate lost wages and other damages for the 2,200 former employees of the shuttered Aveos plants, located in Montreal, Winnipeg and Mississauga, Ont. The compensation will likely top $100 million -- at least $45,400 per employee -- said Elodie Drolet-French, a lawyer representing the workers. The ex-employees would need to make individual submissions. "There will be a process that is clear," Drolet-French said. "It will be easy." The compensation could cover damages ranging from a loss of benefits to "loss of self-esteem," stress and divorce, according to a release in French from law firm Trudel Johnston and Lesperance. "Although it is difficult at this time to estimate the total amount that Air Canada will have to pay as a result of the members' claims, the representative's attorneys conservatively estimate that this amount well exceeds $100m," said Anne-Julie Asselinit, a partner at the firm. Air Canada stressed that Monday's decision merely lays out a calculation method and calls for proof of losses from individual members. "It is completely silent on the quantification of the total amount. Any assessment at this stage is therefore pure speculation," said spokesman Christophe Hennebelle in an email.<br/>