The Canadian government has long struggled with the award of state aid to airlines. It has now been announced that Air Canada will receive the equivalent of around 3,4 billion euros. At the same time Canada will acquire a stake of around six percent.

This should bring about 500 million Canadian dollars into the Air Canada till. The remaining amount is granted in the form of a loan. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in the course of the announcement that the loans must be repaid. In the course of state aid, the Star Alliance member is subject to numerous conditions.

For example, it is forbidden to cut further jobs and, on top of that, an upper limit has been imposed on the remuneration of the management. The government also prohibits the payment of dividends to shareholders. These conditions should apply for the entire term of the government loan.

In contrast to the Austrian federal government, which granted Austrian Airlines state aid worth millions without any noteworthy tough conditions, the Canadian government ensures that jobs are preserved. This is exactly what Austria did not take into account, and just a few months later AUA boss Alexis von Hoensbrorech announced that many jobs were being cut. The Vida union and the opposition criticize both the announcement and the alleged failure that a job guarantee was not made as a condition.

In Canada, it is also noteworthy that the agreement between the government and the airline stipulates that bulk orders placed with Airbus and Boeing may not be canceled. It affects 33 A220 units manufactured in Canada and 40 Boeing 737-Max units. In the case of the latter type, the fact that many local companies are active in the supply chain may have been the decisive factor.