Sept 15 (Askume) – Air Canada (AC.TO) said on Sunday it had reached a tentative agreement with its pilots union on a new four-year collective bargaining agreement, a last-minute deal that would allow flights in the near future.Strikes or lockouts will be avoided .
Pending a tentative deal, Canada’s largest airline is preparing to cancel flights progressively over three days and cease operations completely by 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operate about 670 flights a day, carrying about 110,000 passengers and cargo, and the airline said it will continue to fly as normal for now.
Air Canada said in a statement that the terms of its new agreement with the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents more than 5,200 pilots, will remain confidential as a ratification vote by its members is expected to be completed next month.
ALPA said the agreement would generate additional revenue of C$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion) over four years for members, a 46% increase over the old contract that expires in September 2023.
“After weeks of intense negotiations, we have made progress on a number of key issues, including pay, retirement and work rules,” said First Officer Charlene Huddy, Chair of Air Canada’s ALPA Chief Executives Committee.
The two sides have been negotiating a new contract for the past 15 months, with pilots seeking pay levels that would close the pay gap with peers at major U.S. airlines such as United Airlines Co (UAL.O) .
Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon tweeted that the hard work of all parties and federal mediators prevented a travel disruption for Canadians.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that the Canadian government will not intervene to end the dispute because Canadian Pacific is the two biggest rail companies in Kansas City.(CP.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) ended the strike within 24 hours .
Air Canada has previously offered wage increases of more than 30 per cent as well as improved pension and health benefits. But the union said the offer is not enough for its members, whose pay and quality of life terms were set in 2014.
Over the past two years, American Airlines pilots have negotiated significant pay increases in new contracts amid a travel boom and staffing shortages. For example, United Airlines’ new pilot contract includes a pay increase of about 42%.
Pilot union data shows some United pilots currently earn 92 per cent more than their Air Canada counterparts. In 2013, the pay gap was just 3%.
(1 USD = 1.3585 Canadian Dollars)
