I believe, unfortunatly, that to some extend Big Reds hands are tied. Granted their upper management are trough hogging pigs at the best of times, but then so are most major carriers in this day in age. The problem I see is that the Unions (CAW, et al) are almost unwilling to help the airline out. I understand completly that they (employees of AC) have given up quite a bit in the last 5-10 years through what the industry sees each time as the "final death throw of Air Canada", however I personally would rather have some sort of steady income, than hold my ground for what I have right now only to loose it in a couple of months. I dont work for Air Canada, but I do work with people who do and have many friends working the skies and the ramp and know that most of them would give their right nut just to keep going.
As for the service levels. If you get on any aircraft with someone obviously straight out of high school youre kidding yourself if you think service is going to be anything better than a Macs Milk.
Generally speaking, I have had nothing but excellent service with Air Canada and I have to fly them quite a bit for work. The best service I have received is the person in their late 20's to late 30's, who still enjoys travelling but has past that early 20's stage of "me, me, me" and has not yet hit that early 40's position of "damn it, damn it, damn it". In every industry there are bad eggs, its just that a nice, drop dead gorgeous 20 something sells beer a little better than the more mature fare that some airlines have (and considering you have to buy almost everything you get from AC, the need for cute 20 somethings is evident)