Air Transat Pilots Prepare for Strike Authorization Amid Stalled Negotiations
by Marsha Mowers
Air Transat launched non-stop flights from Canada to Lima in 2023.
Frustrated by stalled negotiations, Air Transat’s pilot leaders plan to ask their members, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), to authorize a strike if a new agreement cannot be reached by December 10.
According to the union, progress at the bargaining table has been “frustratingly slow,” with the company spending limited time in discussions and taking months to deliver counterproposals. ALPA says this drawn-out process has widened the gap between the pilots’ push for industry-standard wages and working conditions and what it describes as inadequate and disappointing offers from the airline.
“Our pilots have carried this airline through a decade of challenges, often at the expense of their own quality of life. The result is that our members are still stuck with outdated working conditions and some of the weakest benefits in the industry,” said Air Transat MEC chair Capt. Bradley Small said in a statement.
“We lag behind our peers in virtually every aspect of pay, benefits, and job security,” Small added. “This is not about special treatment. It’s about catching up to 2025. It’s time to modernize the contract.”
“We do not want to strike—we want a modern contract that reflects the work we do. But if a walkout is what it takes, we are ready to do it, and we’re confident that our 700 members will overwhelmingly give us that authority,” Small said.
ALPA opened contract negotiations with Air Transat in January of this year. The parties entered conciliation on September 19, which is expected to continue until November 18. If an agreement is not reached by then, a 21-day cooling-off period will begin the next day, on November 21.
ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 80,000 pilots at 43 airlines in the United States and Canada.
