Air Transat says it will gradually shut down operations over the next three days in response to a 72-hour strike mandate issued by the union representing its pilots.
In a statement issued shortly after the mandate was announced by the union on Sunday morning, the Montreal-based airline published a statement of its own, calling the strike notice “premature.”
Air Transat said there has been progress in contract negotiations and that it’s made “generous” contract offers. Both the union and the airline say they may come to an agreement before a strike, which could begin as early as Wednesday at 3 a.m. ET.
“This notice requires the company to proactively implement an action plan and proceed with the gradual and orderly suspension of its operations over the next three days to prevent the consequences of a sudden, unplanned interruption,” the airline said in the statement.
Air Transat says it will begin suspending flights on Monday, followed by a “complete suspension” on Tuesday. It will also begin repatriating passengers “to prevent them from being stranded abroad if the strike occurs. The goal is to bring back everyone to their point of origin,” the airline said.
According to online flight radar tracker FlightConnections.com, Air Transat services 10 domestic destinations and 63 international destinations in 33 countries. The airline itself says its flights are mainly to Europe, the Caribbean, the east coast of the United States, South America and North Africa.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) said the airline had left it “no choice” but to issue the strike mandate.
“Months of unproductive bargaining ends now. If we cannot reach an agreement, management will be responsible for every cancelled flight and stranded passengers,” said Capt. Bradley Small, chair of the Air Transat Master Executive Council, which is represented by the ALPA.
Small said that “there is still time to avoid a strike” but that unless significant progress is made before Wednesday, “we will strike if that’s what it takes to achieve a modern contract.”
Negotiations between the ALPA and the airline began in January, three months before the collective agreement was set to expire. At issue are industry-standard pay, benefits, work rules and job security to replace their current 2015 agreement.
Air Passenger Rights, an advocacy organization, said passengers may be entitled to up to $1,000 in compensation if their flight is cancelled by Air Transat before a strike has begun and within 14 days of the flight itself.
The organization has published on its website a list of rights that passengers are entitled to by law in response to Air Transat’s announcement that it would suspend flights.
The group said it’s not accurate for the airline to suggest that the suspension of flights is caused by labour disruptions. Rather, it said, the disruptions “are akin to the airline deciding not to operate a flight for purely economic reasons (e.g., insufficient number of seats sold).”
