Air Transat pilots set the stage for a strike as early as Wednesday morning, issuing a 72-hour notice on the cusp of the busy holiday travel season.
The Air Line Pilots Association said Sunday it filed the strike notice after failing to find common ground following nearly a year of negotiations with travel company Transat A.T. Inc., which owns the leisure airline.
“There is still time to avoid a strike but unless significant progress is made at the bargaining table, we will strike if that’s what it takes to achieve a modern contract,” said Bradley Small, who chairs the union's Air Transat contingent, in a release.
Transat said it is working around the clock to reach a deal but that flight cancellations will start to kick in Monday and ramp up over the following two days.
The airline will inform customers of cancelled flights "and the solutions put in place to assist them," Transat said.
Both sides accused the other of failing to pull their weight in the bargaining process.
Small said that no pilot wants a work stoppage, "but Air Transat management has left us no choice."
Transat human resources chief Julie Lamontagne said the union has shown "no openness" while also pointing to "progress made at the bargaining table."
Given that progress, she said the pilots had made a "premature" move.
"It is regrettable that the union has expressed such indifference toward Transat, its employees and clients by choosing the path of a strike at this time of year — a reckless decision that does not reflect the state of negotiations," she said in a release.
Transat claims it has offered aviators a 59 per cent salary hike over five years and major improvements in working conditions.
Last week the pilots voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike if necessary, with ballots cast by 98 per cent of eligible pilots.
A 21-day cooling off period that followed conciliation talks ends on Dec. 10, when the workers can strike or management can impose a lockout.
The union says it wants the new collective agreement to shore up job security and improve working conditions, compensation and quality of life.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2025.
