MONTREAL (CP) -- Some Air Canada pilots vigorously deny they are contemplating any job actions that could force delays at the country's dominant airline.
Although threatened job action by the group of pilots is under investigation by the Canada Industrial Relations Board at the request of Air Canada, the pilots said Monday they will not disrupt travel plans.
The group of pilots, who claim their seniority rights were ignored when Air Canada integrated pilots from Canadian Airlines in 2000, said they ''will not, and have not contemplated, any action that would threaten either the safety or convenience of the travelling public.''
The group, which calls itself the Original Air Canada (OAC) pilots, acknowledged it is aware of one pilot ''who has expressed his frustration by making certain communications, but at no time was it ever a strategy to promote illegal actions to get things done,'' said Glen Phillips, an Air Canada pilot and spokesman for the OAC group.
Phillips said the group has about 1,230 members out of a total of 3,000 Air Canada pilots.
The airline's chief operating officer said in a letter to the unionized pilots during the weekend he has e-mails from several pilots belonging to the Original Air Canada group who have called on other pilots to slow down operations through tactics like calling in sick.
This prompted the president of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada to complain about the possibility of travel delays right at the start of the summer travel season.
''It's certainly troublesome for the industry,'' Randy Williams said in an interview Monday.
''We're just starting to see a turnaround and this is obviously tourism's peak season where 40 per cent of travel over the year happens.''
Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur insisted there had been no impact on operations as of Monday.
''Our pilots are professionals and we expect they will continue to conduct themselves in a professional manner,'' Arthur said.
The long-simmering feud between Air Canada pilots over seniority broke out again earlier this month after their union membership voted down by 54 per cent a labour agreement clause required for Air Canada's plan to buy $6-billion worth of new Boeing aircraft.
The purchase has to be vetted by the pilots because it involves new aircraft models.
Phillips said he agrees the Boeing purchase is beneficial for the company, but said it was important to use the issue as leverage for the pilots' cause.
''We're not against the airplanes; we needed our voice to be heard and we felt it was our last opportunity.''
He said the group's goal is to work with Air Canada and the government ''to resolve this equitably and fairly once and for all.''
Air Canada took the dispute issue to the Industrial Relations Board last Friday, hoping to get the feud resolved so it could proceed with its order of 32 Boeing wide-body aircraft.
A spokesperson for the federal agency said Monday the board has put its investigation on the fast track, but she was unable to say how long it will take.
Air Canada's pilots broke away from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) in 1995. With members throughout North American, ALPA still represents most other pilots in Canada including the 1,362 who work for Jazz, Air Canada's regional division.
A spokesman from ALPA said the Air Canada pilots ''are trying to blame the corporation and the corporation has nothing to do with this. This is a pilot-made problem.''
Shares in Air Canada's parent company ACE Aviation (ACE.B) fell $1.41 to $39.90 on Monday.
