Booked an Air Canada flight next month? It may be affected by a possible pilot’s strike.
The airline’s pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), voted “overwhelmingly” in favour to authorize a strike.
According to an announcement from the ALPA on Thursday, 98% of Air Canada pilots voted in favour of job action, if necessary, to achieve a new agreement with the carrier.
The union has been in active negotiations with the airline since June 2023. Discussions were held between January and June this year but reached an impasse at the end of June when they entered a 60-day period of federal consultation.
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If negotiations remain deadlocked following the consultation, a 21-day cooling period would begin. When that ends in mid-September, and there’s still no agreement, pilots will be in a legal position to go on strike.
“Today, more than 5,400 Air Canada pilots sent a clear message to management that we are willing to go the distance to secure a contract that reflects the value we bring to Air Canada,” said Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada ALPA Master Executive Council, in a statement.
Hudy says the union’s goal is to avoid a strike but that the carrier’s management is not making that easy.
“Management continues to force us closer to a strike position by not listening to our needs at the negotiating table regarding fair compensation, respectable retirement benefits, and quality-of-life improvements,” she explained.
“After more than a year of negotiations, management must now come to the realization that if they fail to reach an agreement, they will be responsible for us withdrawing our services.”
The airline acknowledged the results of the strike vote in a statement on Thursday, stressing that it “remains committed to the bargaining process and will work towards a fair and equitable collective agreement with the ALPA.”
Air Canada also addressed any worries for anyone who has upcoming flights.
“Such a vote is a normal step in a negotiation process and does not mean that any disruption will take place,” reads the statement. “In fact, a strike cannot take place before the end of the current conciliation period, followed by a 21-day cooling-off period.”
The ALPA says pilots are “negotiating in good faith,” committed to avoiding a strike and any flight disruptions that would follow.
“Air Canada management has the power – and the resources – to avoid a strike, flight disruptions, and lasting damage to its brand. All they have to do is recognize the value of their employees,” added Hudy.
This news of another possible airline strike comes a couple of months after Canadian travellers experienced chaos when WestJet cancelled flights, preemptively expecting a worker strike.