Air Canada has averted a complete shutdown of the airline after last-ditch negotiations with the union that represents more than 5,000 pilots at the Montreal-based carrier heralded at a new tentative agreement.
The agreement was secured just hours before the airline had warned that it would initiate a three-day wind-down of all commercial flight operations ahead of a potential strike by its pilots at both Air Canada and its leisure subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge.
Neither Air Canada nor the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have publicly revealed details of the new four-year tentative agreement, although the airline said the deal “recognizes the contributions and professionalism of Air Canada’s pilot group while providing a framework for the future growth of the airline.”
Air Canada had been offering pilots a pay rise of around 30% over the term of the four-year contract, but ALPA had been demanding a pay hike closer to 45%.
ALPA had argued that the massive pay rise it was demanding was necessary to bring pay parity between its members at Air Canada and their peers working at major US-based carriers such as Delta Air Lines.
Air Canada had long argued that it was impossible to compare Canada’s labor market with the United States, but the union claimed its pay demands had to be met to keep up with the rising cost of living across Canada.
Federal conciliation between the airline and its pilots came to an unsuccessful end in late August, releasing the union into a 21-day cooling-off period, after which pilots would have been allowed to issue a 72-hour strike warning.
The earliest date that ALPA could have issued its strike warning was on Sunday, and if it had been issued, this was the point at which Air Canada would have commenced its shutdown process.
In the last few days, Air Canada had urged the federal government to force the two sides into binding arbitration in a desperate bid to prevent its pilots from going on strike.
Ottawa had, however, repeatedly refused to intervene despite warnings that more than 110,000 passengers per day would be stranded as a result of a walkout.
Air Canada had also implemented a so-called ‘goodwill’ policy, allowing passengers booked on flights departing between September 15 and September 23 to change their travel plans to a later date at no extra cost.
After the tentative agreement was signed, the airline said that passengers would be allowed to change back to their originally scheduled flight as long as space was still available.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Air Canada said that details of the new tentative agreement would remain under wraps until a ratification vote has taken place. The ballot is expected to take place over the next month.
The negotiation process started in June 2023 after ALPA demanded the start of negotiations one year before the end of an existing ten-year contract. The union was allowed to start the bargaining process early because “certain contractual benchmarks related to fleet growth had not been met by then due to the pandemic.”
