Air Canada urges govt to intervene as labour dispute with pilots grows

Canada's largest airline and business leaders on Thursday urged the federal government to intervene in labour talks with its pilots in hopes of avoiding a shutdown, but the labour minister said the two sides should negotiate a deal.

Air Canada spokesman Christophe Hennebelle said that the airline is committed to negotiations, but it faces wage demands from the Air Line Pilots Association it can't meet.

The issue is that we are faced with unreasonable wage demands that ALPA refuses to moderate, he said.

The union representing 5,200 pilots says Air Canada continues to post record profits while expecting pilots to accept below-market compensation.

The airline and its pilots have been in contract talks for more than a year. The pilots want to be paid wages competitive with their U.S. counterparts.

The two sides will be in a position starting Sunday to issue a 72-hour notice of a strike or lockout. The airline has said the notice would trigger its three-day wind down plan and start the