Air Transat pilots vote to ratify new five-year deal
CBC
Pilots at Air Transat have voted to ratify a new five year employment contract with the airline after first reaching a tentative deal in December and narrowly avoiding a strike.
The company and its pilots reached an eleventh-hour tentative agreement last month just hours before pilots were set to go on strike. The work stoppage would have come just before the busy holiday travel period.
A news release from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents Air Transat's pilots, said 98 per cent voted on the deal, with 91 per cent voting in favour of the agreement.
The five-year deal is backdated to May 1, 2025, and will expire on April 30, 2030, the union said.
“Our pilots came together with professionalism and purpose to secure an agreement that reflects who we are and the essential role we play in our airline’s success,” Captain Bradley Small, chair of the Air Transat ALPA master executive council, said in the union's statement.
Air Transat also confirmed the deal had been ratified in a news release.
“We are pleased with the favourable vote, which ratifies the comprehensive overhaul of our pilots’ collective agreement,” said Annick Guérard, Transat's president and chief executive officer, in a written statement.
Guérard added that the new deal acknowledges the contributions of the company's pilots, while making improvements in "efficiency and productivity."
"We also want to thank our customers for their loyalty and trust despite this brief period of uncertainty,” Guérard said.
ALPA was seeking a new agreement that would boost wages, job security and quality of life for Air Transat pilots, especially following gains in recent years by pilots at other Canadian airlines including WestJet and Air Canada.
After the tentative deal was announced last month, Small said the new terms met the "needs of today's profession, consistent with collective agreements other ALPA-represented pilot groups are signing with their employers."
Air Transat cancelled a handful of flights last month in a precautionary move when it looked like the work stoppage was forthcoming, disrupting some travellers, but quickly ramped flights back up once the strike was avoided.
