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Air Transat pilots have voted to ratify a new five-year labor contract with the airline after first reaching a preliminary agreement in December and narrowly avoiding a strike.
The company and its pilots reached a tentative agreement at the eleventh hour last month, just hours before the pilots were set to go on strike. The shutdown was due to occur just before the busy holiday period.
A press release from Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents Air Transat pilots, said 98 percent voted in favor of the deal, with 91 percent voting in favor of the agreement.
The five-year agreement began May 1, 2025, and expires April 30, 2030, the union said.
“Our pilots came together with professionalism and the goal of reaching an agreement that reflects who we are and the important role we play in the success of our airline,” Capt. Bradley Small, chairman of Air Transat ALPA's chief executive board, said in a union statement.
Air Transat also confirmed in a press release that the deal had been ratified.
Air Transat and the union representing about 750 of its pilots have avoided a strike and reached a tentative agreement, the leisure airline's parent company said Tuesday evening. Neither the company nor the union disclosed details of the preliminary agreement.
“We are pleased with the vote of support that ratifies a comprehensive renegotiation of our pilots’ collective bargaining agreement,” said Annick Guerard, President and CEO of Transat, in written statement.
Guerard added that the new agreement recognizes the contributions of the company's pilots while increasing “efficiency and productivity.”
“We also want to thank our customers for their loyalty and trust despite this short period of uncertainty,” Guérard said.
ALPA was seeking a new agreement that would improve pay, job security and quality of life for Air Transat pilots, especially following the successes achieved 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 conditions complied with “the needs of today's profession, in accordance with the collective agreements that other pilot groups represented by ALPA are signing with their employers.”
Air Transat canceled several flights last month as a precaution when a shutdown appeared to be looming, disrupting some travelers, but quickly increased flights once a strike was averted.
