Smooth sailing or turbulence ahead? A look at the airline labour talks on the horizon

Air Canada flight attendants on strike picket at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

MONTREAL — After several years of labour unrest in transport, Canadian travellers face more potential airline disruptions in 2026.

Strikes by Air Canada flight attendants and WestJet mechanics halted operations at the country’s two biggest airlines since June 2024, and the threat of job action from pilots at WestJet and Air Transat further snarled operations.

The slew of work stoppages has left many wondering whether the coming year will be more peaceful on the aviation front -- or if they still need to book with caution.

Porter Airlines’ flight dispatchers could be in a legal strike position as early as Jan. 20 after its three-dozen members voted 100 per cent to give their union a strike mandate. The carrier is also trying to hammer out first-time contracts with pilots and cabin crew. Meanwhile, collective agreements with WestJet pilots and Air Canada mechanics and baggage handlers are expiring by the end of March.

Aside from Porter, no potential work stoppages are expected in the first few months of 2026 due to conciliation and cooling-off periods.

A spate of recent employee-management standoffs in Canada may continue to play out, stemming from years of moderate raises under lengthy contracts, worker gains at U.S. airlines and a more interventionist federal approach.

As airlines emerged from the fallout of the 2008-09 financial crisis and then-prime minister Stephen Harper’s government intervened to halt work stoppages at carriers, both sides felt pressure to ink long-term deals, experts said. What emerged was a sheaf of 10-year agreements -- some with pay hikes of two per cent per year -- that stood in contrast to the more traditional four- or five-year contracts.

The extended agreements fostered labour stability in aviation over much of the last decade. But as those deals expired, unions demanded big gains to make up for the surging cost of living and match their counterparts’ agreements in the U.S., leading to friction with airline executives ever watchful of the bottom line.

“One of the issues which is certainly exacerbating the situation is the length of these contracts,” said Western University employment relations professor Geraint Harvey.

The rising cost of living and union wins south of the border led to great expectations among aviation staff, but stiff competition meant management dug in its heels on some demands. The financial damage wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic added to companies’ resistance to conceding too much.

“We’re just seeing the shakeout of COVID, and I don’t think that’s done yet,” said Harvey.

As a result of the gap between employee and employer, Air Canada flight attendants went on strike in August and WestJet mechanics hit the picket lines in 2024. Meanwhile, the mere threat of work stoppages briefly grounded planes in several more cases -- most recently at Air Transat earlier this month.

A growing reliance on back-to-work directives by the federal government has, ironically, spawned further impasses at the bargaining table, as employers banked on staff members being ordered to return to their posts within hours of launching a job action.

The directives rely on Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. The provision allows the labour minister to “direct the (industrial relations) board to do such things as the minister deems necessary ... to maintain or secure industrial peace” -- such as ending a work stoppage via binding arbitration.

Used sparingly since its inception in 1984, the government has now triggered Section 107 eight times since June 2024, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

That ramp-up has led to a “broken” bargaining process in the transportation sector, said John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University.

“It seems that management really wasn’t interested in negotiation. They were basically putting the time in, let the clock expire and 107 would kick in and solve the problem.

“The whole concept of negotiation, in my opinion, in transportation has been neutered by the government’s use of 107 consistently,” he said.

Nonetheless, the disputes have yielded big wins for unions in several cases.

Air Transat pilots achieved salary bumps that topped 60 per cent over five years for some aviators.

Last year, Air Canada pilots notched a wage hike of nearly 42 per cent over four years. The increase outstrips major gains won the previous year by pilots at the three biggest U.S. airlines, where pay bumps ranged between 34 and 40 per cent -- although they were starting from a higher baseline.

In 2023, WestJet pilots secured a 24 per cent pay bump over four years.

The fact that bookings are effectively perishable commodities serves as a constant check on airlines’ willingness to endure a prolonged work stoppage.

“If you’re manufacturing, you can stockpile,” said Harvey. “When flights are cancelled … that’s going to cost money.”

Labour uncertainty still marks the year ahead.

While Air Canada flight attendants’ defiance of the back-to-work order may make employers think twice about depending on Section 107, the gap between labour demands and management offers as well as the number of deals set to expire could spell turbulence for air travellers.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press