Air Transat Averts Pilots Strike with Tentative Deal

MONTREAL Air Transat averted a potential pilots' strike on Tuesday evening by reaching a tentative agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association, the union representing its approximately 750 pilots, though the airline still canceled 18 flights scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The deal, announced late on December 10, came just hours before a walkout could have begun early Wednesday morning. It will now go to union members for ratification in the coming days. The labor dispute stemmed from negotiations that began in January to replace a collective agreement from 2015, which expired in April. Pilots sought improvements in wages, scheduling, benefits, job security and retirement protections to align with recent gains at other North American airlines, amid rising living costs. The union had issued a 72-hour strike notice on December 7, following failed mediation talks, after 99 percent of pilots voted in favor of job action earlier in the month.

Air Transat, a Montreal-based leisure airline, described the union's demands as unreasonable and the strike notice as premature, noting it had offered compromises including a 59 percent wage increase over five years. "This strike notice...