OTTAWA – Once again, a federal arbitrator has sided with Air Canada in a dispute with its unions.
   
In the latest case, arbitrator Douglas Stanley selected Air Canada’s final offer of a five-year collective agreement effective until April 2016.
   
The airline was poised to lock out its pilots earlier this year, but the move was blocked by the federal government.
   
Last month, a federal arbitrator sided with Air Canada in a long-standing labour dispute between the airline and its unionized machinists.
   
Leaders of the Air Canada Pilots Association say Stanley’s decision will only add to pilots’ anger at the way they’ve been treated by both the government and Air Canada.
   
But Air Canada’s president Calin Rovinescu says it will give the company the flexibility it needs to compete.