[Canada] Air Canada ex-maintenance workers could see $100M compensation

Lawyers in a class action suit contend that Air Canada could have to pay more than $100 million in compensation to workers who lost their jobs at maintenance centres more than a decade ago, Talent Canada reports.

In a 2022 ruling, Quebec Superior Court found that the airline had violated federal law by failing to keep three centres operational when Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. - the contractor running them - collapsed in 2012.

Air Canada reportedly filed an appeal which has yet to be heard.

Earlier this month, the judge decided on a formula to calculate lost wages and other damages for the 2,200 former employees of the shuttered Aveos plants in Montreal, Winnipeg and Mississauga, Ont.

The compensation is likely to exceed $100 million - at least $45,400 per employee - a lawyer representing the workers said.

The ex-employees would need to make individual submissions. “There will be a process that is clear,” lawyer Elodie Drolet-French said in an interview. “It will be easy.”

According to a release in French from law firm Trudel Johnston and Lespérance, compensation could cover damages ranging from a loss of benefits to “loss of self-esteem,” stress and divorce.

“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 $100 million,” Anne-Julie Asselinit - a partner at the firm - said.

Air Canada stressed that the July 15 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,” spokesman Christophe Hennebelle wrote in an email.

If the airline’s appeal of the initial judgment succeeds, the latest decision from Judge Marie-Christine Hivon will not apply, he added.

If the appeal fails, the potential cost could reportedly cause further difficulty for a company already dealing with reduced demand for leisure trips, a slow post-pandemic rebound for higher-margin corporate travel and rising competition from a rapidly expanding Porter Airlines. 

Following a two-year industry boom, Air Canada lost $81 million in its first quarter and share prices have fallen 31 per cent over the past 12 months.

Source: Talent Canada

(Quotes via original reporting)

Lawyers in a class action suit contend that Air Canada could have to pay more than $100 million in compensation to workers who lost their jobs at maintenance centres more than a decade ago, Talent Canada reports.

In a 2022 ruling, Quebec Superior Court found that the airline had violated federal law by failing to keep three centres operational when Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. - the contractor running them - collapsed in 2012.

Air Canada reportedly filed an appeal which has yet to be heard.

Earlier this month, the judge decided on a formula to calculate lost wages and other damages for the 2,200 former employees of the shuttered Aveos plants in Montreal, Winnipeg and Mississauga, Ont.

The compensation is likely to exceed $100 million - at least $45,400 per employee - a lawyer representing the workers said.

The ex-employees would need to make individual submissions. “There will be a process that is clear,” lawyer Elodie Drolet-French said in an interview. “It will be easy.”

According to a release in French from law firm Trudel Johnston and Lespérance, compensation could cover damages ranging from a loss of benefits to “loss of self-esteem,” stress and divorce.

“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 $100 million,” Anne-Julie Asselinit - a partner at the firm - said.

Air Canada stressed that the July 15 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,” spokesman Christophe Hennebelle wrote in an email.

If the airline’s appeal of the initial judgment succeeds, the latest decision from Judge Marie-Christine Hivon will not apply, he added.

If the appeal fails, the potential cost could reportedly cause further difficulty for a company already dealing with reduced demand for leisure trips, a slow post-pandemic rebound for higher-margin corporate travel and rising competition from a rapidly expanding Porter Airlines. 

Following a two-year industry boom, Air Canada lost $81 million in its first quarter and share prices have fallen 31 per cent over the past 12 months.

Source: Talent Canada

(Quotes via original reporting)