Air Canada court ruling sees ex-maintenance workers aim for $100M in compensation

MONTREAL — Lawyers say 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.

A 2022 ruling in Quebec Superior Court found the airline violated federal law by failing to keep three centres operational when Aveos — the contractor that ran them — shut down in 2012.

Air Canada has filed an appeal, which has not yet been heard.

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

Elodie Drolet-French, a lawyer representing the workers in their class action, says the compensation will likely top $100 million — at least $45,400 per employee — though she qualifies that the total is tough to gauge.

Air Canada spokesman Christophe Hennebelle calls the projections "pure speculation," noting that the calculation method did not name a final compensation amount.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2024.

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The Canadian Press