(Updated) Air Transat ramps up flight cancellations as strike deadline looms

From London to Lima, Air Transat announced a fresh round of flight cancellations Tuesday afternoon as the clock ticked down on a Wednesday morning strike deadline from pilots near the peak of the holiday travel period.

Travel company Transat A.T. Inc., which owns the Montreal-based leisure airline, said it has cancelled a dozen flights so far on Tuesday, plus another half-dozen scheduled for the next day.

The cancelled trips included sun destinations in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru and Spain as well as London and Paris. All 18 flights were slated to either take off or land in Toronto or Montreal.

Air Transat said it had arranged seven extra flights Monday and Tuesday to ferry some passengers back early from their vacations.

Passengers travelling from Punta Cana and Cancun arrived as scheduled on Air Transat flights Tuesday afternoon. 

Adrian Ruso said he was relieved to be returning home from vacation as scheduled and without any delays from the airline on Tuesday. 

“The last few days we were stressed out but we’re glad to be back home today,” he said. 

He said another family he stayed at the resort with has return tickets for Thursday and now they’re not sure they can get back home. 

Other customers returning on the same flight told The Canadian Press they didn’t have time to answer questions but said they were returning to Toronto the day the originally planned to fly and didn’t have to change their bookings to ensure they made it home. 

Another woman getting off the flight who didn’t give her name said she wouldn’t have been upset to have a few extra days of vacation if her flight was cancelled. 

On the heels of round-the-clock discussions through the week, negotiators in Montreal resumed talks Tuesday about a new contract for the carrier's 750 pilots, who want a deal that boosts wages, job security and quality of life.

"Improved offers have been submitted in the past few hours, along with significant concessions, reflecting our determination to find common ground," said Transat spokeswoman Andréan Gagné in an email Tuesday.

"However, in the absence of an agreement at this time, we are compelled and regret to proceed with the cancellation of a second wave of flights scheduled for today."

Both sides remain at the table, said Bradley Small, who heads the union's Air Transat contingent.

"We owe it to our passengers and pilots to reach a deal. We are committed to negotiating a fair and modern contract that will bring stability to our pilots and our airline," he said in an emailed statement.

A work stoppage would disrupt the travel plans of thousands of Canadians who fly Air Transat each day, mainly to sun destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe.

The carrier's active fleet of nearly 40 planes carries tens of thousands of passengers on more than 500 flights each week. Even if a strike is short or averted entirely, a spate of scrapped trips could disrupt the airline's flight schedule for days, if not longer.

Some took the labour dispute in stride.

Ruth Richardson, who travelled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from Toronto's Pearson airport with her husband on Monday, was relieved to be boarding a flight.

She said her travel agent alerted her to the possible disruption and offered to cancel the booking, but she remained unfazed by the prospect of being stuck abroad.

"We're both retired, so if we get a couple more days, then we do," she said.

Kate and Kyle Kelly also flew to Punta Cana on Monday with their two young children.

They were initially worried the trip would be cancelled altogether after they heard about a potential strike, but headlines on Monday morning saying both sides were still at the bargaining table gave them renewed optimism their getaway could go ahead without any turbulence.

Still, they are hoping to avoid the logistical and financial burden of rebooking flights or prolonging their stay overseas.

"I did look up passenger rights just to ensure I knew what we were allowed to do and what the airline had to do, so I feel a little more confident that Air Transat does keep up their end of the bargain," Kyle said.

"It's kind of out of our control," Kate said of the looming strike.

The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents aviators at Air Transat, issued a 72-hour strike notice on Sunday.

Transat responded that cancellations would ramp up ahead of a potential strike or lockout that could kick off as early as 3 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.

The labour standoff comes at a particularly fraught time for Transat as it struggles to manage a large debt load — $1.4 billion in net debt as of July 31 — and turn an annual profit for the first time since 2018.

The board of directors is also trying to fend off an attempted coup by media mogul Pierre Karl Péladeau. Last week, the head of telecommunications giant Quebecor Inc., who also owns 9.5 per cent of Transat — its second-biggest shareholder — demanded a board shakeup and strategic overhaul.

The proposal would see the billionaire's right-hand man at Quebecor replace Transat chairwoman Susan Kudzman, with Péladeau also gaining a seat at the table.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2025.