The North Shore will be spared if Air Canada employees go on strike. Regional flights operate under the Air Canada Express brand by Jazz and Pal Airlines companies, which have a separate collective agreement. These partners carry around 20 % of Air Canada’s daily customers, according to the company.
The Air Canada section of the Canadian Public Service Syndicate (SCFP) filed a strike notice on Tuesday which should start on Saturday, if no agreement in principle is concluded by then. In response, Air Canada filed a lockout opinion.
The situation is bogged down, and Air Canada will begin to gradually cancel some of its flights from Thursday.
According to the director general of Tourism Côte-Nord, Joannie Francoeur-Côté, an Air Canada strike would have had little impact on traffic in the region, because tourists generally choose Route 138 to go to the region.
Joannie Francoeur-Côté is delighted with the good start of the tourist season, and hopes that she will continue on the same momentum.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Michèle Bouchard
She also explains that Air Canada is not the most important air carrier in the region, ensuring only one daily flight between Sept-Îles and Montreal. According to Joannie Francoeur-Côté, strikes from other larger airlines in the region could have been more problematic.
If it was Pal Airlines or Air Liaison that was on strike, I would probably have more to say, but Air Canada, it’s really Montreal-Sept-Îles.
Although the share of tourists arriving by plane is weak, Joannie Francoeur-Côté insists on the importance for the North Shore to maintain a perception of accessibility, because the region seeks to bring tourists.
On the North Shore, Air Canada Express provides only one daily flight between Sept-Îles and Montreal.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Nicolas Bougeard
Limited repercussions
However, the strike is not without consequences for the region, especially for people with correspondence to the rest of Canada or abroad. The company indicates that around 130,000 customers per day could be affected by a disturbance, which includes the 25,000 Canadians that the carrier brings back from abroad.
The interruption of Air Canada service could also have an impact on companies that depend on air transport to bring their workers by turnipping.
A resident of Sept-Îles, Elisabeth Leblanc, worries that the strike put pressure on the air transport network, which would create problems for the economy and workers.
