Canada¡¯s largest airline, Air Canada, announced that company officials have developed a contingency plan that includes suspending most of its operations if talks with the pilot union fail.

According to Reuters.com, Air Canada and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) continue to negotiate a new contract, but the two sides remain far apart on the details. The ALPA represents 5,200 Air Canada pilots.

If the two sides cannot reach a new deal, Air Canada revealed a three-day service suspension plan, starting as early as September 15.? The carrier and its subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, operate close to 670 flights daily.?

Air Canada officials said the suspended service will likely impact 110,000 passengers daily.

¡°Air Canada believes there is still time to reach an agreement with our pilot group, provided ALPA moderates its wage demands which far exceed average Canadian wage increases,¡± Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said. ¡°However, Canadians have recently seen the chaos abrupt airline shutdowns cause for travelers, which obliges us to do everything we can to protect our customers from an increasingly likely work stoppage.¡±

¡°This includes the extremely difficult decision to begin an orderly shutdown of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge once a 72-hour strike or lockout notice is given, possibly as early as this Sunday,¡± Rousseau continued.

The Canadian airline is working to accommodate stranded travelers with other airlines if the suspension plan comes to fruition, but company officials do plan to allow the Air Canada Express brand to continue operating.

Air Canada¡¯s pilots are fighting for wage increases that would put them in line with the top airlines in the United States and the salary improvements their pilots fought to earn over the last several years.

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