Air Canada remains ready to negotiate with pilots union

Air Canada said it’s willing to keep talking to its pilots after their union accused the nation’s largest airline of abandoning negotiations.

The bargaining process is advancing to mediation, as permitted by Canada’s Labor Code, the Montreal-based carrier said in a statement.

Air Canada said it “remains at the negotiating table awaiting a response” from the pilots union to a “comprehensive” proposal the company made on January 16.

The company failed to make a proposal within a 60-day conciliation process, the Air Canada Pilots Association said earlier in a statement. The pilots and a federal conciliator asked Air Canada to continue the process, and the airline refused, according to the union.