View cases - Stewart McKelvey

Page: 107[411] Air Canada had, however, conceded before the Tribunal that nothing in the ICAO standardsin effect at the time that Mr. Vilven was forced to retire from Air Canada in 2003 prevented over-60First Officers from flying international flights: transcript, at p. 2170.[412] Indeed, Air Canada could not point to any evidence in the record that would suggest that theanswer would have been any different, depending on whether the Tribunal was considering AirCanada’s ability to accommodate Mr. Vilven alone, or all over-60 First Officers in the period priorto November of 2006. Consequently, any error that the Tribunal may have committed in this regard2011 FC 120 (CanLII)was not material to the result.[413] Given that the ICAO standards did not impose any mandatory restrictions on the ability ofover-60 First Officers to continue flying, it follows that Mr. Vilven and other over-60 First Officerscontinued to be able to satisfy the requirements of their jobs, as long as they were able to meetTransport Canada’s licensing requirements.[414] As a result, the Tribunal’s finding of liability on the part of Air Canada for the terminationof Mr. Vilven’s employment was reasonable. The reasonableness of the Tribunal’s findings withrespect to the ability of Air Canada to continue to accommodate Mr. Vilven and other over-60 FirstOfficers after the coming into force of the new ICAO standards in November of 2006 will beaddressed further on in these reasons.