{"id":330656,"date":"2025-12-07T16:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T16:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/330656\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T16:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T16:48:08","slug":"air-transat-to-begin-suspending-flights-monday-with-complete-shutdown-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/330656\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Transat to begin suspending flights Monday, with complete shutdown planned"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

People look on as an Air Transat plane takes off at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport in June, 2023. The carrier said it believes an agreement with the pilots’ union is still possible.Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Air Transat<\/a> TRZ-T<\/a> says it will begin suspending flights on Monday after its pilots\u2019 union issued a strike notice for early Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

The Montreal-based airline and the Air Line Pilots Association have failed to reach a new collective agreement in talks that began last winter. Both sides are in legal strike or lockout positions on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Air Transat pilots vote to strike if contract talks fail<\/a><\/p>\n

The carrier on Sunday morning called the strike notice \u201cpremature.\u201d Air Transat said it believes an agreement is possible, but it will begin suspending service on Monday with a complete shutdown by Tuesday. Airlines take this step ahead of possible work stoppages to avoid stranding passengers, crew and aircraft. However, the move risks stranding passengers already at their destinations, and comes just ahead of the busy holiday travel season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is regrettable that the union has expressed such indifference toward Transat, its employees and clients by choosing the path of a strike at this time of year \u2014 a reckless decision that does not reflect the state of negotiations,\u201d said Julie Lamontagne, Transat\u2019s chief human resources officer, in a statement. \u201cWhile our priority is now to take care of our customers, we remain committed to the process in order to conclude a negotiated agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opinion: Transat shareholders deserved a vote in the federal government\u2019s bailout<\/a><\/p>\n

The union is seeking better pay and working conditions. The previous agreement was signed in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo pilot wants to strike, but Air Transat management has left us no choice,\u201d said Bradley Small, a union executive who represents Air Transat\u2019s 750 pilots. \u201cMonths of unproductive bargaining ends now. If we cannot reach an agreement, management will be responsible for every cancelled flight and stranded passenger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Air Line Pilots Association members (ALPA), from left, Capt. Ronan O’Donoghue, Capt. Guy Chevalier and first officer Samer El Husseini talk at the Air Transat Pilot Strike Centre in Montreal on Wednesday after a 99 per cent vote in favour of a strike mandate.Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Air Transat said it has offered pilots a pay raise of 59 per cent over five years, with \u201cmajor\u201d improvements to working conditions. <\/p>\n

The pilots\u2019 union has not provided details of its demands, but has said it wants an agreement in line with the one signed by Air Canada\u2019s pilots last year.<\/a> Air Canada\u2019s 5,200 pilots reached a deal with raises of 42 per cent over four years. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still time to avoid a strike but unless significant progress is made at the bargaining table, we will strike if that\u2019s what it takes to achieve a modern contract,\u201d Mr. Small said.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1986, Air Transat employs about 5,000 people. The leisure-focused carrier sells flights and vacation packages to destinations in Europe, the Caribbean and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

At Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, Air Transat\u2019s main hub, the airline is scheduled to fly 12 flights on Sunday and eight on Monday to resort destinations in Europe and the Caribbean. At Toronto Pearson International Airport, Air Transat has 10 flights scheduled on Sunday and six on Monday. This does not include several routes flown with Porter Airlines, with which Air Transat has a partnership agreement. A Porter spokesman was not immediately available to comment. <\/p>\n

Transat AT, the airline\u2019s operating company, is struggling to turn a profit and reduce debt incurred after a taxpayer bailout in the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is also facing a battle for the control of its boardroom led by investor Pierre Karl P\u00e9ladeau, chief executive officer of Quebecor Inc.<\/p>\n

Transat investor Pierre Karl P\u00e9ladeau calls for review, board changes at struggling airline<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. P\u00e9ladeau, whose Financi\u00e8re Outremont Inc. owns 9.5 per cent of Montreal-based Transat, is seeking to replace Transat chair Susan Kudzman and wants the number of company directors reduced to six from 11 after years of financial and operational underperformance. <\/p>\n

Air Transat lost $114-million in 2024 and $25-million in 2023. It is scheduled to report 2025 financial results on Dec. 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: People look on as an Air Transat plane takes off at Montreal-Trudeau International…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40,145767],"class_list":{"0":"post-330656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories","14":"tag-trz-t"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}