Court Rules Air Canada Must Keep Montreal Maintenance Facility

Quebec's Court of Appeal has ruled against Air Canada, upholding a lower court's 2013 decision that the carrier must keep heavy maintenance operations in Montreal.

Air Canada appealed the case first brought by the province of Quebec to court in 2012. The province argued that Air Canada breached its legal obligations to keep heavy maintenance operations in the country after the carrier closed a facility in Montreal.

The facility was operated by the former Aveos Fleet Performance, once an important Air Canada contractor. In 2012 Aveos obtained creditor protection and laid off its 2,600 Canadian employees, including about 1,700 workers in Montreal.

The Air Canada Public Participation Act, the law that has governed Air Canada's operations since 1988, says the airline must maintain overhaul facilities in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario.

Tuesday's court decision said Air Canada was contravening the act by not maintaining an aircraft overhaul operation in Montreal.