Air Canada’s latest proposal would make attendants highest paid in the country: CEO

Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the impact of the strike and the path ahead for the company.

The head of Air Canada says the airline’s latest contract proposal to its flight attendants would make them the highest paid in the country, as a fight over the issue of ground pay remains unresolved and a strike that’s halted thousands of flights drags on.

• UPDATE: Air Canada strike ends after tentative deal reached with flight attendants union

“We have an overall, total compensation proposal of roughly 40 per cent over four years, and we think that is excellent,” Michael Rousseau, Air Canada’s CEO, told BNN Bloomberg in an interview Monday afternoon.

“That will result in our flight attendants being the best compensated flight attendants in Canada, bar none, and that’s something we had always committed to.”

Rousseau’s comments came after the national president of The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents roughly 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, said earlier in the day that the strike would continue despite a federal back-to-work order.

The carrier was “disappointed” with the union’s decision, Rousseau said.

“(We’re) obviously disappointed; disappointed for our customers. Over half a million customers have been impacted by this illegal strike and we want to see an end to it,” he said.

Rousseau confirmed that Air Canada planes will not fly Monday, and said he hopes to resume service Tuesday, “but we’ll make that decision later today,” he said, adding that between 500 and 600 flights were cancelled Monday.

Fight over ground pay

One of the main points of contention in labour negotiations is pay for flight attendants when they’re required to be at work but are not in the air, which is not technically compensated in their contract.

Rousseau said that while that payment structure is unorthodox in other professions, it’s a model that “exists in virtually every airline in the world,” and that the rate at which attendants are paid in the air largely compensates for unpaid time on the ground.

“There are only two or three other airlines in the world that just recently introduced what’s called ground pay… our proposal includes a concept for ground pay and so we’re fine with the concept,” he said.

“We believe that what we’re offering from a ground pay perspective will be market leading and so we’ve addressed that situation… but again, the rates that we pay for the time they are flying or backing away from the gate and arrive at the gate do compensate for the extra work.”

For CUPE’s part, the union said in a news release over the weekend that it came to the bargaining table to address the “hours and hours of unpaid labour from underpaid flight attendants.”

“CUPE came to the table with data-driven and reasonable proposals for a fair cost-of-living wage increase and an end to forced unpaid labour. Air Canada responded by sandbagging the negotiations,” the release read.

When asked whether he had considered resigning as chief executive over the labour dispute, Rousseau, who has served in his current position since 2021, said no.

“I haven’t considered resigning, I think I have an incredible background, I’ve been with the company for almost 20 years, as chief financial officer for many of those and CEO for the last four and a half,” he said.

“I think I am quite capable, along with my incredible team, to manage this situation.”