For a large, network carrier operating globally[1], there is no such thing as a short shutdown. Running the carrier each day entails a complex choreography of crews, aircraft, ground and airport workers, suppliers and customers. If any single element is disrupted, it reverberates through the whole airline and can require days to return the system to normal.

Shutdown

• Given the number of aircraft involved, these would need to be parked in non-traditional locations at hub airports (such as de-ice bays) which mean aircraft get “boxed in” which limits how quickly they can be brought back into operation; it could take days to sequence all the aircraft out of these locations

• Once an aircraft goes into parking, maintenance teams need to put each aircraft into a state of active storage. This requires certain tasks to be performed such as adding covers to protect aircraft systems.

• Crews would be displaced all over the globe as many aircraft will need to be parked outside of crew bases. It will take several days to bring hundreds of crew members back on other airlines as there will be extremely limited seats available.

• In the event of a short shutdown, many crews would still be in transit home while the airline is trying to start-up. Crews need crew rest once back home, adding an additional 24 hours of unavailability.  

Restart

• It can take close to eight hours for maintenance to do all the required tasks to safely bring each aircraft out of active storage and have it available for a return to service. This translates to only approximately 30 per cent of aircraft ready to go back into operations per day at hub airports, or four to five days to bring all aircraft back into an active state.

• Once they are back to work, it will take days to first validate the location of 5,200 pilots and 10,000 flight attendants, provide proper crew rest, then deploy them for a re-start.

• Air Canada and Rouge carry 110,000 customers a day on average, many of whom could be stranded and these customers would have to be reaccommodated while those who had previously booked flights would also be travelling.

• For international flights, all crew will require crew rest during a re-start which will have an impact to all flights outside of North America. Flights will have to operate to an international destination, wait for 24-28 hours, then operate back, which results in high cancellation numbers for international flights. Once an international flight lands at a foreign destination, a new, rested crew already on site operates the flight home. Positioning crew in these destinations ahead of time will add three-to-five days to the ramp-up process.

• Aircraft parked outside of main bases will take longer to return to operations as there will not be crews at those locations so it will take a few days to position crews to the location, then they need crew rest, then the airline can plan operations.

• For aircraft parked at North American Heavy Maintenance facilities, a check flight is necessary prior to operating, this requires a specially qualified pilot crew which the airline has in limited numbers, adding multiple days.

• Weather systems occurring at our hubs could further complicate a restart, particularly with large numbers of aircraft parked in one place during a shutdown.

Contacts:           media@aircanada.com                     

                           aircanada.com/media

Corporate Communications: September 12, 2024