Editing Air Canada (section)

====Late 2000s financial difficulties====
High fuel prices and the [[Great Recession]] caused Air Canada significant financial difficulties in the late 2000s. In June 2008, the airline announced it would lay off over 2,000 employees and cut its capacity by 7 percent by the first quarter of 2009.<ref>{{cite news|date=17 June 2008|title=Air Canada cutting 2,000 jobs, trimming capacity|language=en-CA|work=[[CBC News]]|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-cutting-2-000-jobs-trimming-capacity-1.699586|access-date=1 December 2020|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301233013/https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-cutting-2-000-jobs-trimming-capacity-1.699586|url-status=live}}</ref> President and CEO [[Montie Brewer]] expressed confidence that the airline would weather the economic downturn.<ref>{{cite news|last=Deveau|first=Scott|date=24 November 2008|title=Brewer handling Air Canada obstacles; CEO confident carrier has troubles in hand|work=[[Financial Post]]|publisher=[[Postmedia]]|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/330796242|access-date=1 December 2020|id={{ProQuest|330796242}}|via=[[ProQuest]]|archive-date=2 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402015027/https://www.proquest.com/docview/330796242|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Calin Rovinescu 2015.jpg|thumb|[[Calin Rovinescu]] in 2015. Rovinescu served as the CEO of Air Canada from 2009 to 2021.]]
Brewer resigned on 30 March 2009 and was replaced by [[Calin Rovinescu]] on 1 April.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jang|first1=Brent|title=Brewer resigns as Air Canada Chief|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/brewer-resigns-as-air-canada-chief/article1156460/|access-date=25 January 2015|newspaper=Globe and Mail|date=31 March 2009|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403113933/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/brewer-resigns-as-air-canada-chief/article1156460/|url-status=live}}</ref> Rovinescu became the first Canadian President since [[Claude Taylor (transportation executive)|Claude Taylor]] in 1992. Rovinescu, reported to be "an enforcer", was Air Canada's chief restructuring officer during its 2003 bankruptcy; he resigned that year after unions rejected his demands.<ref>{{cite news |first= |date=31 March 2009 |title=Air Canada drafts an enforcer |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/streetwise/air-canada-drafts-an-enforcer/article782633/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403195305/http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090331.WBstreetwise20090331084002/WBStory/WBstreetwise |archive-date=3 April 2009 |access-date=January 31, 2024 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |publisher=}}</ref>

Air Canada's contracts with four unions also expired around this time. The airline stated that its $2.85&nbsp;billion pension shortfall (which grew from $1.2&nbsp;billion in 2007) was a "liquidity risk" in its first-quarter report, and it required new financing and pension "relief" to conserve cash for 2010 operations. The company was obligated to pay $650&nbsp;million into the pension fund but it suffered a 2009 Q1 loss of $400&nbsp;million, so it requested a moratorium on its pension payments in 2009. The unions had insisted on financial guarantees before agreeing on a deal. Rejecting union calls for a direct bailout of the company, federal finance minister [[Jim Flaherty]] instead appointed retired judge James Farley to mediate pension issues between the company, the unions representing its employees, and retirees. Farley had presided over the company's 2003 bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 June 2009 |title=Flaherty appoints ex-judge to mediate Air Canada pension issues |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/flaherty-appoints-ex-judge-to-mediate-air-canada-pension-issues-1.823961 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607095926/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/04/air-canada-pension.html |archive-date=7 June 2009 |access-date=January 31, 2024 |work=[[CBC News]] |publisher=}}</ref>

In July 2009, Air Canada requested and received CA$1&nbsp;billion in financial aid from a consortium of entities, including the Canadian government, ACE, and associate company Aeroplan. The Centre for Aviation reported that only CA$600&nbsp;million was actually loaned to Air Canada; the rest of the money was from sale-leaseback accounting and "aggregating an array of biscuit-tin savings".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/air-canada-bailout-buys-time---but-canada-inc-sells-out-to-forces-of-protectionism-8958|title=Air Canada bailout buys time - but Canada Inc sells out to forces of protectionism|access-date=1 April 2020|archive-date=1 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601023142/https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/air-canada-bailout-buys-time---but-canada-inc-sells-out-to-forces-of-protectionism-8958|url-status=live}}</ref>