As a 21-day cooling off period begins following federal conciliation, Air Canada says a deal with its pilot union remains its main focus.
But to allay customer fears, the airline has introduced a flexible rebooking policy for passengers with booked travel coinciding with the end of the cooling off period on September 17.
“Air Canada's intention remains to reach a negotiated settlement with its pilots, one that recognizes their professionalism and contributions to the airline,” Air Canada said in a press release.
“During the talks, there has been significant progress and the three-week cooling off period gives the parties more than sufficient time to address any outstanding issues. Air Canada is fully committed to bargaining meaningfully throughout the period.”
The airline adds: “However, certainty about their travel plans is important to customers. For this reason, Air Canada has introduced a goodwill policy to give all customers flexibility with imminent travel plans. Starting today, customers who have purchased travel on Air Canada flights for the period immediately preceding and after the end of the cooling off period on September 17, 2024, can change any travel already purchased at no additional cost.
Air Canada's Goodwill Rebooking Policy Details:
Changes can be made online at www.aircanada.com, through the Air Canada mobile app, a travel agent, or by calling an Air Canada Contact Centre (although wait times may be elevated).
The policy allows customers holding bookings on any fare type with travel between September 15 and 23, 2024, to:
A) Rebook to any other Air Canada flight(s) with the same origin and destination up to November 30, 2024. Change fees and any other fees or fare difference will be waived, meaning such changes can be made at no cost for customers who choose to travel the same route in the same cabin.
or
B) Cancel their flight and retain the residual value on a future travel credit. Refunds will be available as per fare rules for customers with refundable tickets; for customers with non-refundable tickets, refunds are not available as flights are scheduled to operate as normal.
or
C) Cancel their flight and rebook travel for after November 30, in which case change fees will be waived but the customer will have to pay the fare difference, if any.
The policy applies to all Air Canada operated flights, including Air Canada mainline, Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz or PAL Airlines, and Air Canada Vacations (an additional fee may apply for hotels). It is important to remember that Air Canada Express flights, operated by Jazz or PAL Airlines, are not operated by Air Canada pilots and therefore will not be impacted by the end of the cooling-off period.
Some Special Services Temporarily Unavailable
Additionally, to give customers with special requests visibility, certain special services will be temporarily unavailable. These include services such as the Unaccompanied Minor Program, special request baggage services for items such as bicycles and hunting equipment, and the Meet and Assist Program in Japan.
More details for AC customers are available here and for Air Canada Vacations customers here.
For more information about Air Canada's ongoing contract negotiations with the ALPA, click here.
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