MONTREAL, June 13, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada is proud to partner with major Francophone festivals across the country, notably the two that kick off today in Ottawa and Vancouver. The Festival franco ontarien in our nation's capital runs from June 13-15 and on the West Coast, the Festival d'été francophone de Vancouver is from June 13-23.

"As Canada's largest private-sector customer-facing company offering bilingual services in Canada and around the world, we proudly support events that highlight Canada's unique culture and our two official languages. Stretching from coast to coast, the Franco festivals showcase French Canadian culture through music, arts and language," said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Senior Vice President, People, Culture and Communications and Champion of Official Languages at Air Canada.

In Ottawa, Air Canada will have a kiosk at Major Hill's Park on June 15, while in Vancouver a street booth will promote the careers we offer as well as our international francophone destinations. Air Canada is also sponsoring the closing show on June 23 featuring Diane Tell.

Early next month, Air Canada will also be present at the Franco-Fête de Toronto, which runs from July 5-7.

In addition, Air Canada participates in a number of other events to promote its commitment to bilingualism, such as les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, Canadian Parents for French and Fédération des Communautés Francophones et Acadiennes du Canada (FCFA).

We value our role in promoting bilingualism in Canada both at our head office in Montreal and throughout our global network.

When recruiting new front-line employees, Air Canada always gives priority to bilingual candidates. Since 2017, approximately 50% of Air Canada's new employees speak both French and English. Each year, the airline invests in language training, offers new employees awareness sessions and showcases its language training programs to familiarize employees with its active offer of bilingual services. More than 2,400 employees attended French classes in 2018.

Air Canada is also recognized as a leader in the promotion of diversity in the workplace, being named one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers for four years in a row.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving nearly 220 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2018 served nearly 51 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 62 airports in Canada, 54 in the United States and 100 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,317 airports in 193 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax, which also named Air Canada the 2018 Best Airline in North America. For more information, please visit: aircanada.com/media, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.                                      

Internet: aircanada.com

SOURCE Air Canada

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2019/13/c2757.html