Air Canada pilots could go on strike soon and here's what travellers should know

If you have flights with Air Canada next month, you might want to stay updated on discussions between the airline and its pilots.

The Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) says it is gearing up for a possible strike in September.

The union representing Air Canada pilots has been in active negotiations with the airline since June 2023. Discussions were held between January and June this year but reached an impasse at the end of June when they entered a 60-day period of federal consultation.

If negotiations remain deadlocked following the consultation, a 21-day cooling period would begin. When that ends in mid-September, and there's still no agreement, pilots could go on strike.

"We want to reach an agreement with Air Canada to avert a strike, and although we have made some progress in conciliation, management continues to force us closer to a strike position by not listening to our most pressing needs at the negotiating table regarding fair compensation, respectable retirement benefits and quality-of-life improvements," says Charlene Hudy,, Air Canada's ALPA master executive council chair.

A strike vote decides

Hudy says pilots are in the process of participating in a strike vote, which ends on August 22.

If members vote in favour of a strike mandate, the carrier's pilots will be able to exercise their rights under the Canada Labour Code, including strike action, as early as the end of the cooling-off period.

Regardinghow the outcome of discussions could affect travellers, the ALPA says its goal is to avoid a negative outcome for passengers.

"Flight disruptions are never an ideal outcome for our passengers or any pilot; that's why our primary goal is to reach an agreement and not go on strike," said Hudy.

An Air Canada spokesperson added that the carrier remains in negotiations with the ALPA and has reached an agreement on several issues.

"We are working actively to reach agreement on the remaining issues with an aim to finalize a deal over the next several weeks," they said the spokesperson. In the meantime, they say "It is business as usual," with the carrier operating as normal.

This news of another possible airline strike comes a couple of months after Canadian travellers experienced chaos when WestJet cancelled flights, preemptively expecting a worker strike.