MONTREAL -Aveos Fleet Performance Inc., Air Canada’s aircraft repair firm, filed for bankruptcy protection in Quebec Superior Court on Monday, sources have told Postmedia News.
The company expelled many of its 3,000 workers from three sites late Sunday and locked the factory gates in Montreal, Winnipeg and Mississauga, Ont. Hundreds of employees protested early Monday at the Montreal facility, next door to Air Canada’s head office, against what its union called “a savage shutdown.”
The lawyer steering the filing, Guy Paul Allard of Montreal law firm Fraser Milner, said he could not answer questions about the company’s situation.
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Air Canada said in a news release Monday the shutdown of Aveos and its application for insolvency protection was disappointing, but that it doesn’t affect the general maintenance of Air Canada’s fleet.
“The airline’s line maintenance has always been performed directly by Air Canada, at the airline’s own facilities by Air Canada’s 2,300 maintenance employees. The airline typically performs its line maintenance activities overnight or between flights, as necessary,” the release says.
According to Air Canada, Aveos primarily provides maintenance on airframes and engines and the work is generally scheduled in advance.
“The airline is prepared with a contingency plan to ensure continuity of this work and that it will continue to be performed in compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements,” the company said.
Air Canada said it has several agreements with “a number” of other companies scattered mostly throughout the United States and Canada who could provide maintenance if necessary.
Aveos is a former division of Air Canada that was sold off in 2004 during restructuring. About 85 per cent of the maintenance company’s business is with Air Canada.
More than 2,000 workers were locked out of the maintenance company Sunday in Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.
With files from Robert Hiltz, Postmedia News.
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