Air Canada Expects to Resume Regular Schedule Saturday April 14

MONTREAL, April 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Air Canada is preparing to resume its full flight schedule for Saturday April 14, 2012 following the cancellation of approximately 75 flights on Friday April 13 due to illegal job action taken by some of its pilots.  Cancelled flights were primarily to and from Toronto, the carrier's main hub, and other Canadian or United States destinations.  Air Canada's international flights were not affected.

On Friday, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) granted, at Air Canada's request, an order declaring that certain pilots were participating in an illegal strike; ordering ACPA, the pilots' union, to take all reasonable steps to bring to an end the illegal strike; and requiring all pilots participating in the illegal strike to immediately return to work and perform their duties in the normal manner.  As such, Air Canada expects to resume its normal schedule effective Saturday April 14.

"Our first priority today has been to take care of our customers," said Duncan Dee, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "While we were able to re-accommodate almost all customers affected on alternate flights, we recognize the inconvenience this job action has caused to our customers.  We thank them for their patience and loyalty as we re-double our efforts to restore their confidence in Air Canada.  The vast majority of Air Canada's pilots reported to work today and performed their duties as the true professionals they are.  I would like to thank them and all other Air Canada employees for getting our customers to their destination safely and as quickly as possible."

Air Canada operates approximately 600 daily flights.  In addition, the carrier's regional airline affiliates including Jazz operate approximately 900 Air Canada Express flights daily that were not affected by the illegal job action.

In order to facilitate changes to travel plans, Air Canada has revised its ticketing policy for customers booked on flights until Saturday April 14, 2012. Those customers wishing to rebook until June 30, 2012 may do so free of charge by using Air Canada's self service rebooking tool at aircanada.com, on their mobile device, or by contacting Air Canada Reservations toll free in Canada and the U.S. at 888-247-2262; TTY: 1-800-361-8071 or Air Canada Reservations worldwide. To avoid lengthy call centre wait times due to increased call volume, Air Canada urges customers to consult aircanada.com for the latest flight information and to use the airline's online rebooking and check-in tools.

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Air Canada's public communications may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are based on assumptions and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements cannot be relied upon due to, amongst other things, changing external events and general uncertainties of the business. Actual results may differ materially from results indicated in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including without limitation, industry, market, credit and economic conditions, the ability to reduce operating costs and secure financing, pension issues, energy prices, employee and labour relations, currency exchange and interest rates, competition, war, terrorist acts, epidemic diseases, environmental factors (including weather systems and other natural phenomena and factors arising from man-made sources), insurance issues and costs, changes in demand due to the seasonal nature of the business, supply issues, changes in laws, regulatory developments or proceedings, pending and future litigation and actions by third parties as well as the factors identified throughout Air Canada's public disclosure file available at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Air Canada's expectations as of date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. However, Air Canada disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.

SOURCE AIR CANADA