Aug. 15, 2012, Montreal - A Quebec court has delayed the sale of Aveos' engine repair business to Lufthansa Technik by a week.
The deal had been opposed by lawyers for former Aveos employees.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union has said the German company wouldn't preserve jobs in Canada while a competing bid from Vancouver-based MTU Aero Engines would.
But a court-appointed chief restructuring officer says both bids "appeared to be equal'' in terms of jobs creation in Quebec,
although the MTU offer would create up to 130 jobs in Vancouver.
In any case, Jonathan Solursh said those extra jobs won't likely go to former Aveos employees since the B.C. centre focused on airframe overhaul.
In a report to the court, he said MTU's offered price was about half the price offered by Lufthansa.
Lufthansa doesn't have an engine repair facility in Canada but plans to set up a small shop in Montreal employing about 15 workers to fulfil part of the service requirements of Air Canada. Most of the work will be carried out at its facilities overseas.
Some 2,600 Aveos employees across the country, including 1,800 in Montreal, lost their jobs when the company suddenly obtained creditor protection and closed its operations in March.
Once Air Canada's technical services division, Aveos was spun off as a separate company after the company's restructuring.
Air Canada was Aveos' largest customer, providing about 90 per cent of its maintenance overhaul work.
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