Air Canada and flight attendants reach new 10-year agreement

MONTREAL, Canada – Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) today announced they have reached a new agreement, subject to ratification, on collective agreement terms for ten years for the approximately 6,500 flight attendants at Air Canada and 700 at Air Canada rouge.

“This new, ten-year agreement with CUPE is an important development which will support long term profitable growth for the benefit of Air Canada, our stakeholders and our flight attendants at both mainline and Air Canada rouge,” said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines, Air Canada. “This is a win-win agreement that will provide added stability and flexibility while acknowledging the important contribution of our flight attendants towards Air Canada’s future success. As the fifth collective agreement reached with unions representing our employees over the past year, it is further indication of the collaborative partnership that is building Air Canada into a Global Champion.”

“We are pleased that the company has agreed to many key improvements to our current collective agreement, including much-needed provisions on job security amongst other important gains. Following many months of hard work at the bargaining table, the eight members of our bargaining committee are unanimous in their joint endorsement of this tentative agreement. We look forward to a sustained period of growth at Air Canada. Our company’s global expansion in the months and years ahead will be mutually beneficial, and will have a tremendously positive impact on our membership,” said Michel Cournoyer, President, CUPE Airline Division.

The agreement is subject to ratification by CUPE’s membership as well as to certain openers over the 10 year period. Details of the agreement will not be released pending ratification by CUPE and approval by the Air Canada Board of Directors.

The union will recommend ratification to its members and the Company will seek the Air Canada Board of Directors’ approval for the agreement promptly.

This agreement with CUPE, subject to ratification, follows on the conclusion in October 2014 of a new agreement with Air Canada’s 3,000 pilots on collective agreement terms for ten years. It is the fifth collective agreement reached by Air Canada and its unions, including those with Unifor representing the airline’s 4,000 Customer Service and Sales Agents in Canada, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) representing its U.S. unionized workforce and UNITE representing its U.K unionized workforce.