Air Canada pilots have secured a 46 percent contract value increase in an historic new agreement, in line with recent increases at major U.S. airlines, their union leader said on Wednesday.
The agreement includes an immediate 31 percent wage increase, along with a ratification payment, said First Officer Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada Master Executive Council (MEC) at the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA).
“This is the largest labour agreement in Air Canada’s history, and it includes many improvements for all Air Canada pilots,” said Hudy.
“It really shows Air Canada management the importance of recognizing the value and expertise our pilots bring to the airline.”
Hudy noted 67 percent of voting members cast ballots in favour of the deal, and downplayed the fact nearly one-third of union members voted against it.
The agreement injects $1.9 billion of “new value,” more than any collective agreement in the airline’s history, and makes Air Canada pilots the highest-paid in the country, she said.
“It is not a perfect agreement,” Hudy acknowledged. “I’m not sure it’s achievable to reach a perfect agreement, and there is room for improvement.”
Hudy faced several questions about the new contract’s impact on junior pilots, including quality-of-life improvements to scheduling and vacations that may only be phased in toward the end of the agreement.
Other airlines have also phased in these kinds benefits, which require more pilots in the system, she said.
“Air Canada needs the time to attract those pilots and train them,” said Hudy. “Once we get to the end of the deal … Air Canada pilots will see a 28 percent increase in our vacation credit.”
The new agreement averts a strike and puts an end to an at-times contentious negotiation process that stretched over the peak summer travel season. It brings top-scale pay rates in line with pilots at Delta, United and American airlines, and the immediate 31 percent pay hike is larger than pilots at those airlines saw in their recent contracts—as well as in the new contract at Southwest Airlines, she said.
“I am of the belief that as time goes on, the value that’s in this agreement will start to really show itself,” said Hudy. “Clearly, it also shows that there is still work to be done and improvements that can be made. The fight for better wages and working conditions, when you’re a union member—it’s a job that is never over. I believe we will get to a place as Air Canada pilots where we are still a unified group.”
Hudy declined to reveal starting salaries for first officers under the new deal, but said the contract is an “uplift to the entire payscale for Air Canada pilots.”
The agreement applies to approximately 5,200 union members at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, all of whom are on the same seniority list and have the same working conditions and wages, per ALPA.
Hudy also deflected the notion that junior pilots might jump to other airlines if they’re unhappy with the contract.
“I think as we implement this new collective agreement, and people have an opportunity to live under this new contract for a while, and people think long-term where they see themselves as a professional pilot, I’m not certain that many people make the decision to actually leave Air Canada,” said Hudy.
“We’ll know more when this has had a time to actually be implemented, and for pilots to live under it.”
