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MONTREAL – Travelers, business groups and politicians expressed wild relief Sunday after Air Canada and the union representing thousands of its pilots negotiated a new labor agreement and avoided a disruptive nationwide shutdown.
Canada’s largest air carrier announced shortly after midnight on Sunday that it had reached a tentative, four-year joint agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association.
The deal, reached after more than a year of contract negotiations, brought with it the possibility that the 5,200 Air Canada pilots represented by the union could be locked out or walk off the job. Any such move would have forced the airline to suspend almost all operations, a prospect that raised concerns among business groups, passengers and even the prime minister.
At Pearson International Airport in Toronto, passengers preparing for departures on Sunday breathed a sigh of relief.
“I wasn’t looking forward to the Air Canada strike, because I booked this ticket like a month and a half ago, so a last minute change would have been pretty bad,” said Arjun Pandit, who was on his way to New York City . for work. “It would have stopped the whole trip.”
Donna Holloway, who had booked a connecting flight to Chicago, said she had made no contingency plans and would have tried to change her flight at the airport if a work stoppage had been announced. She received an email on Sunday morning saying her flight was still scheduled. “I was really confident they would settle the dispute and so far I’ve been happy,” he said.
Federal Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon issued a statement shortly after the agreement was announced praising both sides for avoiding work stoppages.
“Thanks to the hard work of the parties and federal mediators, disruption has been prevented for Canada,” MacKinnon said on social media. “I would like to salute the efforts of Air Canada and its pilots, who approached the negotiations seriously and determined to get a deal.”
The tentative agreement averts a strike or lockout that could have started as early as Wednesday for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, with flight cancellations expected before then.
“The new agreement recognizes the contributions and professionalism of Air Canada’s pilot group, while providing a framework for the airline’s future growth,” the carrier said in a statement.
He said Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge will continue to operate as normal while union members vote on the tentative four-year contract.
Air Canada said the terms of the new agreement will remain confidential pending a ratification vote by the membership, which is expected to be completed over the next month, and approval by the airline’s board of directors.
The union issued a statement after midnight Sunday, saying that if ratified, the tentative agreement will generate about an additional $1.9 billion in value for Air Canada pilots over the course of the agreement.
“The constant engagement and united determination of our pilots has been the catalyst for achieving this contract,” said First Officer Charlene Hudy, chair of Air Canada’s ALPA MEC.
The agreement also represents progress on a number of key issues including compensation, retirement and work rules, he added.
Air Canada said customers who changed flights originally scheduled between Sunday and Sept. 23 under its labor disruption plan can change their reservation back to their original flight in the same cabin at no cost, subject to availability .
A full-scale shutdown appeared likely in the days leading up to Sunday’s announcement. Both sides had said they remained far apart on the issue of pay, a central sticking point in the negotiations that had stretched for more than a year.
The pilots’ union argued that Air Canada continues to post record profits while expecting pilots to receive below-market compensation. He also said that around a quarter of pilots say they take second jobs, with around 80 per cent of those doing so out of necessity.
The airline said it had offered wage increases of more than 30 percent over four years, along with benefits improvements, and said the union was inflexible with “unreasonable wage demands.”
Air Canada and a number of business groups had called on the government to intervene in the matter, including the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses and the Canadian and United States Chambers of Commerce.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce joined the chorus of those voicing relief on Sunday.
“We hope to see (the tentative agreement) ratified by membership in the next month, ending uncertainty for Canadian travelers, as well as businesses and communities that rely on Air Canada’s cargo network every day, ” said CEO Candace Laing in a statement.
The union vehemently opposed government intervention, with ALPA President Captain Tim Perry issuing a statement Friday asking Ottawa to respect workers’ collective rights and refrain from participating in the bargaining process. He said the government’s interference violates Canadian constitutional rights and freedoms.
For his part, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was up to both sides to establish a deal.
Trudeau said Friday that the government was not going to step in and fix the issue alone, something it promptly did after two of Canada’s main railways saw lockouts in August and during a weekend strike by WestJet mechanics long Canada Day.
He said that the government respected the right to strike and that it would only intervene if it became clear that an agreement had not been negotiated.
Air Canada had already begun preparing for possible closures, saying its cargo service had stopped accepting items such as perishable goods and stating that a wind-down plan for passenger flights would take effect if a strike was notified or lockout is issued.
The tentative agreement avoids travel disruptions for the average 670 daily flights operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, carrying more than 110,000 passengers.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 15, 2024.
— With files from Ritika Dubey in Toronto
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