{"id":32227,"date":"2025-06-27T23:03:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T06:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/?p=32227"},"modified":"2025-06-27T23:10:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T06:10:57","slug":"iam-canada-turbulence-ahead-the-real-impact-of-deregulating-canadas-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/?p=32227","title":{"rendered":"IAM Canada – Turbulence Ahead: The Real Impact of Deregulating Canada\u2019s Skies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

On June 19, 2025, the Competition Bureau of Canada released its final report on airline industry competition: \u201c<\/em>Cleared for takeoff: Elevating airline competition<\/em><\/a>\u201d<\/em>. Its central recommendations? That Canada consider allowing foreign-owned airlines to operate domestic routes and re-evaluate current ownership limits. By proposing to eliminate cabotage restrictions and foreign ownership limits, the Bureau\u2019s suggestions threaten to unravel the very infrastructure that sustains Canada\u2019s aviation sector, with devastating consequences for workers, communities, and national sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the union representing over 16,000 airport workers across the country, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union) sees these proposals not as policy progress, but as a direct threat to Canadian jobs, an erosion of our national aviation infrastructure, and a dangerous precedent for public policy driven by short-term economics instead of long-term, Canadian<\/em> public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States strictly prohibits foreign carriers from operating domestic routes, and other regions \u2013 like the European Union \u2013 only allow such access among member states<\/em>. Opening our skies unilaterally would offer foreign carriers privileges they don\u2019t extend to us in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we recognize that the airline industry needs reform, deregulating access to our domestic market is not<\/em> reform. It\u2019s a retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no level playing field \u2013 only a losing one<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada\u2019s aviation sector operates under complex constraints: vast geography, regional routes that are economically and logistically essential but unprofitable, and a regulatory environment already strained by fees and infrastructure gaps. The Bureau\u2019s proposal to allow foreign carriers to fly domestic routes \u2013 also known as cabotage \u2013 assumes all competitors arrive equally burdened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No major nation, including the United States, offers Canada the same access. Foreign airlines would be invited to pick the most profitable routes without contributing to the rest of the network. That\u2019s not competition. It\u2019s market cherry-picking, and it undermines the carriers and workers who keep the full system running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers will pay the price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For thousands of Canadians, airport jobs are often unionized, come with decent wages, benefits, and job security, and offer permanence increasingly rare in the broader labour market. Our members are the backbone of the aviation economy. Foreign operators with no commitment to Canada will just bring lower wages, fewer benefits, and more precarious, outsourced labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t speculation \u2013 it\u2019s history. We\u2019ve seen it deteriorate countless Canadian airlines \u2013 from Canada 3000 to Jetsgo to Canadian Airlines International \u2013 and there\u2019s no evidence this time will be different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes these recommendations particularly troubling is the lack of labour consultation throughout the Bureau\u2019s study. Only one labour union was interviewed over the course of a 13-month process, despite the airline sector employing tens of thousands of unionized workers. While the IAM provided a detailed written submission to the Bureau, we were never interviewed. Without input from the frontline workforce, these policy recommendations lack the perspective needed to understand their full impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National infrastructure cannot be offshored<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our airlines operate in one of the most challenging geographies on earth. They serve small towns, remote communities, and Indigenous territories where air travel is not a luxury \u2013 it\u2019s a lifeline. Foreign carriers, with no long-term investment in our infrastructure or workforce, will swoop in for the profitable urban corridors \u2013 Toronto to Vancouver, Montreal to Calgary \u2013 leaving Canadian carriers to shoulder the financial burden of essential, unprofitable routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once weakened, Canadian carriers will collapse \u2013 and with them, thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Ottawa opens the door to foreign operators without long-term obligations, what happens when those players exit the market in a downturn? Who ensures continued service to the North? Who remains accountable to Parliament?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer cannot<\/em> be: \u201cwhoever\u2019s left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the goal is a better system, let\u2019s fix what\u2019s broken<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do not dispute that Canada\u2019s aviation system has problems. But they begin with issues that tend to be ignored: airport rent and landing fees, overburdened infrastructure, outdated navigation systems, and underinvestment in regional access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fixing these problems requires political will, not privatizing the problem and hoping it solves itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada has a responsibility to foster competition that serves the Canadian <\/em>public, not foreign corporations. That means strengthening our airlines, protecting our workers, and building an aviation system rooted in resilience, not deregulation. These are national priorities, not global business opportunities to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IAM urges the Canadian government to reject the Competition Bureau\u2019s recommendations on cabotage and foreign ownership. These proposals may promise cheaper fares, but they will come at the cost of sovereignty, safety, and economic stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our skies are not for sale. And the people who keep them running shouldn\u2019t pay the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

For the full report from the Competition Bureau, please click <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see the IAM Union\u2019s submission to the Competition Bureau, please click <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union) On June 19, 2025, the Competition Bureau of Canada released its final report on airline industry competition: \u201cCleared for takeoff: Elevating airline competition\u201d. Its central recommendations? That Canada consider allowing foreign-owned airlines to operate domestic routes and re-evaluate current ownership limits. By proposing to eliminate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[63,61,62],"class_list":{"0":"post-32227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-news","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-iam","10":"tag-union","12":"post-with-thumbnail","13":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32228,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32227\/revisions\/32228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam140.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}