Air Canada announces 10-year contract with pilots, Report

Air Canada has reached a tentative agreement with the leadership of its pilots union on a 10-year labor contract.

Leadership of the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA), which represents 3,000 Air Canada pilots, said the agreement covers “compensation, benefits and other work rules until September 2024.” Neither the airline nor the union released details of the agreement, which must be ratified by a majority vote of Air Canada’s pilots.

“This new, 10-year agreement with the Air Canada Pilots Association is an important development which, if ratified, will allow us to further accelerate the implementation of business strategy and support long-term profitable growtyh for the benefit of Air Canada and our pilots,” said Benjamin Smith, Air’s Canada president of passenger airlines, in a news release.

The previous round of labour negotiations at Air Canada with its unions was marked by unrest and bookoffs by pilots. The airline was hit by a brief strike by the customer service representatives. Other deals that were negotiated by the pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers were all rejected by the rank-and-file membership.

The federal government intervened with rare legislation to block any strike or lockout by pilots just before the busy March Break in 2012. Instead, an arbitrator imposed a contract on the pilots, who were upset their right to strike was taken away.

That contract was scheduled to run until April 2016, but when recently approached by airline management the pilots indicated they were open to consider early negotiations.

Agencies/Canadajournal