Crunch time for bankrupt Air Canada as union mulls last-ditch cost-cutting

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2004

TORONTO (AFP) — Air Canada put a last-ditch cost-slashing proposal to a holdout trade union, as a final deadline passed for an 850 million dollar rescue bid (612 million US) designed to keep the carrier aloft.

The airline, a member of the Star Alliance and a major player on Asian and European routes, as well as a domestic lifeline to millions of Canadians, slumped into bankruptcy in April 2003.

An Ontario judge gave the insolvent airline a last chance to get the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) to agree extra cost trimmings worth 200 million dollars (144 million US) -- the price demanded by potential rescuer Deutsche Bank.

"We are putting all our energy into concluding an agreement with the CAW," said Isabelle Arthur, spokeswoman for the Montreal-based...