Air Canada and pilots wage PR battle as potential strike looms ...

By Skies Magazine | September 6, 2024

Talks between Air Canada pilots and management remained at an apparent standstill heading into the weekend, as the two sides lobbed conflicting narratives in the mainstream press.

Pilots have been attempting to ratchet up pressure on Canada’s flag carrier, with information pickets and statements that indicate a woeful wage gap with U.S. airlines. 

But a Bloomberg report has complicated the public relations battle, saying the airline has offered to increase pilot wages by about 30 percent within three years.

Pilots would receive a minimum 20 percent increase up front, followed by annual raises over the next three years, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources who are familiar with the matter.

Air Canada lists the average salary for narrowbody captains at between $215,000 to $290,000 a year, plus expenses; the range for widebody captains with 11 to 15 years’ experience is listed at between $315,000 and $350,000, plus expenses.

Bloomberg said a pilot in the high end of that range would see their wages rise more than $100,000 over the life of the contract. To date, no other media outlets have confirmed the Bloomberg report and neither Air Canada nor the pilots’ union has publicly commented on specific contract offers.

The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), which represents Air Canada pilots, has said current salaries make it “very hard to sustain a family” for pilots living in Canada’s largest cities.

“One quarter of our pilots have a second job, with almost 80 per cent of those needing the job out of necessity,” said First Officer Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada ALPA master executive council, in a statement to Global News.

“We are trying to change that. Additionally, due to our latest 10-year contract, our compensation has not kept up with inflation, nor the levels of our peer carriers.”

ALPA has previously said Air Canada pilots are paid less that half of what their counterparts receive, per Bloomberg.

In August, union members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike if they can’t reach a new collective agreement. A strike could begin as early as Sept. 18.

The pilots have been without a contract for about one year, after their previous deal from 2014 expired in 2023.

There is recent precedent for a massive wage hike: In September 2023, pilots at Chicago-based United Airlines ratified a deal that raised pay by about 42 percent, per Reuters.

Later that year, pilots at Southwest Airlines agreed to a 29.15 percent immediate pay increase, plus wage increases of four percent for three years starting in 2025, followed by a 3.25 percent increase in 2028.

ALPA represents more than 5,400 Air Canada pilots and has pledged a $5 million grant from the union’s war chest to support contract negotiations.

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