Air Transat, one of Canada's largest airlines, said it will begin phasing out some flights starting Monday, ahead of the planned strike.
The union representing airline pilots issued a 72-hour strike notice on Sunday, announcing that Air Transat pilots would stop reporting to work on Wednesday if a contract agreement was not reached.
After the strike was announced, the airline said it would gradually cease operations “to prevent the impact of a sudden, unplanned interruption.”
The airline called the strike notice “premature” and the union leader said there was still time to avoid a strike.
“No pilot wants to go on strike, but Air Transat management has left us no choice,” Capt. Bradley Small, who leads the union's pilot group, said in a statement.
“Months of unproductive negotiations are coming to an end. If we cannot reach an agreement, management will be held responsible for every canceled flight and stranded passenger.”
Air Transat pilots have been negotiating for nearly a year to replace their current 2015 contract with one they hope will enshrine “industry standard pay, benefits, work rules and job security,” the pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association, said.
The union said 99% of Air Transat's 750 pilots voted to allow their management to go on strike.
In response, the airline, one of Canada's top three, said it would begin canceling flights on Monday and suspend all flights on Tuesday in preparation for a possible pilot strike on Wednesday.
“This strike notice is premature given the progress made at the negotiating table and the generous offers made to Air Transat,” Julie Lamontagne, Air Transat's human resources officer, said in a statement.
Ms Lamontagne said the airline negotiated in good faith and accused the pilots' union of showing “indifference to Transat” in its “reckless decision” to authorize the strike, “which does not reflect the state of the negotiations”.
The airline said the flight cancellations were necessary to ensure crews, passengers and aircraft were not “stranded abroad in the event of a strike.”
In 2024, Air Transat air traffic controllers voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike after contract negotiations with their union stalled, but a strike was ultimately averted.
