Air Canada Pilots Approve Strike Action Ahead of Potential Next-Month Walkout

Air Canada pilots have voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike mandate, putting them in a position to walk off the job on September 17.

The Airline Pilots Association, which represents more than 5,400 pilots at the nation’s largest carrier, said Thursday’s vote passed with 98 percent support.

Employees have been negotiating with Air Canada since June 2023, with ongoing negotiations in Toronto hotels overseen by a federal conciliator.

The process is to wrap up this Monday, followed by a 21-day cooling-off period – leaving September 17 as the earliest strike date.

Air Canada pilots prepare for strike amid ongoing labour dispute

Charlene Huddy, head of the union’s Air Canada branch, said the vote sends “a clear message to management” that pilots are willing to work to get a better deal.

“It’s a stale, old contract,” he said in a phone interview. “Right now there are elements of our collective agreement that only come back after bankruptcy.”

The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003.

Union points to U.S. pilots’ compensation

Hoody said the two sides have reached consensus in some areas, but are holding out on some aspects of wages and schedules.

After new contracts between the four largest U.S. airlines and their pilots over the past 18 months, some flight crews have moved away from their counterparts at Air Canada, he said, pointing to United Airlines in particular. Earns almost double.

“We fly all passengers under Star Alliance. So we’re flying the same passengers on some of the same routes in the same airspace, and those pilots are being paid dramatically more than we are,” Hoody said. said

Air Canada’s chief human resources officer, Ariel Melville-Wechsler, said the parties had agreed on “many, many articles” of the collective agreement.

He noted the labor stability that marked the decade covered by the now-expired contract.

“But of course, with a 10-year contract, that creates a little less demand. So it’s time to refresh the contract,” he said in a video posted on Air Canada’s website Thursday. I said.

Air Canada CEO Michael Russo told analysts earlier this month that the two sides agreed on several points and hoped to reach an agreement in the coming weeks.

A majority of pilots at Air Canada have voted in favour of walking off the job as early as mid-September, after more than a year of negotiations between the union and the airline. 

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents more than 5,400 aviators at the country’s largest carrier, said the vote passed by 98 per cent on Thursday.