Air Transat Pilots Strike Imminent as Flight Cancellations Begin Before Wednesday Deadline

The union representing Air Transat pilots, ALPA, is one day away from what could be the second major airline strike in Canada this year, and flight cancellations have already begun.

As of Tuesday morning, Air Transat cancelled six of the day’s flights: an outbound and return flight between Montreal Trudeau (YUL) and Cancun (CUN); the same between Toronto Pearson (YYZ) and Cancun (CUN); and another outbound and return between Montreal (YUL) and Punta Cana International (PUJ).

All impacted passengers have been notified via email, Air Transat said. The airline is also warning passengers that “wait time may be longer than usual” at its contact center, so only passengers with flights scheduled in the next few days should contact them.

“To allow us to help travelers currently at destination and whose return is imminent, we ask that you call us only if your return is scheduled on or before December 12,” the airline said.

The union issued a mandated 72-hour strike notice to Air Transat over the weekend, meaning the strike could begin as early as 3:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, December 10.

Of the 750 pilots in the union, 99% approved the strike “if necessary,” ALPA said. The union is looking for a “modern contract with industry-standard pay, benefits, work rules, and job security to replace their current 2015 agreement.”

Should the strike occur—and the pilot’s union has said that “unless significant progress is made at the bargaining table, we will strike”—passengers should expect a deeper fallout than the six flights cancelled on Tuesday.

Air Transat typically operates around 71 flights per day, or about 500 flights per week, during normal operations. That’s far less than the schedule Air Canada operated during its flight attendant strike earlier this year, but it remains a significant schedule, particularly for Canadians traveling to sun destinations.