Strike averted as Air Transat, union representing pilots reach tentative agreement

An Air Transat strike has been averted after the airline and the union representing pilots reached a tentative agreement Tuesday night.

Air Line Pilots Association, who represents more than 750 Air Transat pilots, said the agreement “delivers a modern contract that recognizes the professional contributions,” of their pilots.

Their members will vote on the agreement in the “coming days.”

“We are pleased to announce that our unity and resolve finally brought Air Transat management to the bargaining table to negotiate in a meaningful way, resulting in a Tentative Agreement,” said Capt. Bradley Small, chair of the Air Transat ALPA Master Executive Council.

The airline also confirmed the agreement, saying in a statement, it “marks an important milestone in the process, lifts the risk of a strike and now allows its customers to travel with peace of mind.”

“We would have greatly preferred to avoid the threat of a strike, which forced us to modify our operations. We are aware that this period has created significant uncertainty, and we extend our sincerest apologies to our customers whose flights were disrupted in recent days.” Osaid Annick Guérard, President and CEO of Air Transat.

The Air Line Pilots Association sought a new agreement that boosts wages, job security and quality of life following big gains for aviators at Air Canada and WestJet over the past two years.

Bradley Small, who heads the union’s Air Transat contingent, said the existing 10-year-old pilot contract lags behind industry standards in Canada and North America.

“We believe this new agreement meets the needs of today’s profession, consistent with collective agreements other ALPA-represented pilot groups are signing with their employers,” Small said in a statement.

Transat’s flight schedule was severely disrupted this week after it began to cancel flights in anticipation of a labour standoff.

By Tuesday afternoon, the Montreal-based company had suspended routes to sun destinations in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru and Spain as well as London and Paris. All 18 flights were slated to either take off or land in Toronto or Montreal.

Air Transat said it had arranged seven extra flights Monday and Tuesday to ferry some customers back from their vacations early.

Transat said their priority now is to quickly restore their operations.