Air Canada has option to drop Boeing order

I don’t think this is an ‘order’ issue as such (again muddy waters for the new system) but is of interest really..

Air Canada raises prospect of dropping Boeing fleet deal
(09Jun05, 10:11 GMT, 181 words)

Air Canada has stated that it has the freedom to cancel its new order for Boeing long-haul aircraft if the airline cannot seal a labour agreement with its pilots.

While the deal for the 32 aircraft – a mix of Boeing 787s and 777s – is important to Air Canada and, while the order appears unlikely to be scrapped, parent company ACE Aviation Holdings has stressed that it has the ability to cancel the deal without penalty if an agreement cannot be reached by 10 June.

Speaking during an transport industry conference in New York, ACE Aviation Holdings chief Robert Milton reportedly said: “I think Boeing would be quite happy to take [the aircraft] and put them somewhere else if we can’t figure it out.

“It is my hope, obviously, that we get it done. If we don’t, we’ll have to revert to Plan B – which would be adding more used aircraft.”

Representatives of the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) have indicated optimism for an agreement but have not given details of proposals nor a projection on when a settlement might be reached.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news