UPDATE 3-Air Canada pension deal may not be enough-analysts

* Agreement helps stave off immediate cash crunch

* Airline still needs "substantial" financing

* Unions don't want to be long-term shareholders (Recasts with union, analyst comments; adds background)

By Nicole Mordant

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 9 (Reuters) - A tentative agreement with most of its unionized staff will help ease an immediate cash crunch at Air Canada (ACa.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (ACb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) but it is not enough on its own to fend off the specter of bankruptcy, analysts said on Tuesday.

Canada's largest airline still needs to secure "substantial" financing to help it ride out one of the worst downturns in the industry's history, and stiff competition at home, a difficult task given its already heavy debt load.

Late on Monday Air Canada said it had struck agreements on pension funding and contracts with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) and the Canadian Airlines Dispatchers Association. The three represent about 16,500 employees or more than 60 percent of the airline's unionized workers.

The Air Canada Pilots Association, representing about 3,200 pilots, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), whose members are flight attendants, were not part of the deal but are still in discussions with Air Canada.

The airline's stock rose on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Its B shares gained 9.9 percent to C$1.55 and its A shares rose 2.9 percent to C$1.44.