Porter pilots now represented by ALPA union

Porter staff direct travellers at Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto on Friday, July 19, 2024. Porter Airlines suspended flights until at least noon as a global tech outage affected flights at the airline. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Porter Airlines pilots have officially unionized under the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the labour organization announced Tuesday.

With the agreement now certified by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, roughly 800 pilots from Canada’s third-largest airline have joined more than 13,500 others across the country in recognizing the association as their bargaining agent.

“Porter pilots are instrumental to the airline’s considerable success,” ALPA Canada president Tim Perry said in the release. “Our immediate priority is to help Porter pilots negotiate a fair collective agreement that recognizes their significant contributions to the airline.”

The ALPA noted Tuesday that Porter’s pilots are the 22nd Canadian pilot group to join the union and the 43rd to do so continent-wide. With the addition of Porter, previously Canada’s largest non-union carrier, the association says it now represents more than 95 per cent of Canada’s professional airline pilots.

The Porter pilots follow their colleagues at Air Canada, whose union merged with the ALPA in 2023. The following year, the union voted to approve a new agreement with Air Canada, following weeks of uncertainty over a potential strike.

Flight attendant strike looms

Air Canada flight attendants, meanwhile, are in the midst of a 72-hour notice period ahead of a strike of their own, set to begin on Saturday. The airline has issued a parallel lockout notice in response, and has warned that it could begin cancelling flights as soon as Thursday.’

In a statement posted to social media Thursday, federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu shared in the disappointment expressed by both sides.

“I understand this dispute is causing a great deal of frustration and anxiety to Canadians who are travelling or worrying about how they will get home,” the statement reads.

“I urge both parties to put their differences aside, come back to the bargaining table and get this done now for the many travellers who are counting on you.”

Air Canada has asked the government to intervene in the dispute by ordering arbitration. Hajdu says that federal mediators are “willing and able to work with parties around the clock,” but has not yet ordered their use.

With files from CTV News’ Christl Dabu and The Canadian Press