Government intervention in Air Canada talks a threat to competition: Transat CEO

Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said. “The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday. “The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added. Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions. Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results. Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention. The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99% in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February. As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.” “The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.<br/>