Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
Air Canada pilots are pressing for higher pay in the run-up to fresh contract talks, following recent gains secured by pilots at U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines, union representatives told Reuters.
A contract between Delta and its pilots that came into effect on Thursday delivers a 34 per cent per cent pay increase over four years, driving pressure on other U.S. carriers to reach similar deals.
It is also galvanizing pilots at Canada's largest carrier. Delta's latest hourly pay rates are up to 45 per cent higher than current Air Canada hourly pay rates, the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) said by email.
Air Canada pilots have received a 2 per cent wage increase per year, since 2014, said ACPA, which represents about 4,500 pilots. They could potentially begin salary talks as early as this year, or in 2024, the union said.
"Pilots in the U.S. have recently secured significant wage increases and other contractual improvements, creating an embarrassing gap with Canada," Charlene Hudy, a top ACPA union leader, said in a statement.
The talks come as North American carriers are collectively recruiting thousands of pilots to meet a rebound in travel demand following a pandemic-induced slump. Air Canada did not respond to a request for comment.
ACPA is in talks to possibly join the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the world's largest pilots' union, representing more than 60,000 pilots.
ALPA Canada President Tim Perry said many U.S. carriers recognize the importance of crew to their business model "by providing improved wages and working conditions for their pilots, in most cases far surpassing those of their Canadian counterparts."
Pilots north of the border are now trying to make gains. Canada's Sunwing Airlines pilots secured a 23 per cent wage hike early this year and another 2.5 per cent raise next January as part of their existing four-year agreement, union Unifor said.
Some airline executives are concerned that hefty pilot pay raises will inflate fixed costs and make it tougher to repair debt-laden balance sheets. Delta has forecast a hit on its earnings in the first quarter as the pilot deal is estimated to drive up operating costs.
Air Canada, which expects to return to 2019 levels of capacity next year, is also facing cost pressures.
Salary is also a priority for pilots in negotiations at Canada's second-largest carrier, WestJet.
U.S. carriers American Airlines Group and United Airlines are also negotiating with their pilots.
Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal. Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago Editing by Matthew Lewis and Susan Fenton
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.