In a recent Move Me News, Air Canada advised us that there would be a “Grab and Go” Breakfast option added to the Breakfast à la Carte Menu for flights departing from Canada and arriving in Europe. It will be available for customers to order on the Breakfast à la Carte menu and can be served up to 30 minutes prior to landing. This is being touted as a new idea so that we can “maximise the customers sleep and be competitive”.
This is yet another initiative put forth by Air Canada through which they did not include any meaningful consultation with our members, the people who need to support and perform the labour for these kinds of changes. Our members are the people who actually work on these routes time and time again. We believe that the members are best placed to give feedback on whether a new initiative is viable. We understand that customer feedback may hold some value, but customers do not know the logistics and constraints that exist. If safety is our primary concern, our time and efforts are better spent in the last 30 minutes of the flight considering our safety duties and preparing the cabin for landing. Will this be the next issue the OBSMs will be critiquing and using to set us up for failure?
In June of 2019, Air Canada was proud to announce that it had been named Best Airline in North America once again by Skytrax. This award was received for the 8th time in 10 years. If it were not for our members, this would not have been possible. We are the employee group at Air Canada that spends the most time with customers, and our expertise and input matters. We are 9,500 strong, and we need to harness our collective commitment to safety, and ensure that we remain vigilant safety professionals.
In addition to the very real fact that our competitors have higher crew complements on many routes, we are consistently reminded of the goal of becoming a “Global Champion”.
After you read the Move Me News, please remember to file a pay claim under eClaim for the amount of time it took you to read. Click “HERE” to view the grievance filed on the MMN.
The reality is, until the crew complements are increased, we are not going to reach that ever-elusive goal. There is only so much juice you can squeeze from an orange and we are tapped out.
In solidarity,
