MONTREAL—- Leaders of the Air Transat pilots’ union, the Air Line Pilots Association, International, announced today that 91% of the Air Transat flight crewmembers approved a strike authorization vote giving the leadership authority to call a strike in the event that negotiations with management do not result in a fair contract.

“We hope this strike vote sends a clear message to our management,” said Capt. Martin Gauthier, chairman of the Air Transat flight crewmembers. “We’ve been in negotiations for a new contract for 18 months and it’s long past time for management to start seriously addressing our need for a contract that compensates us fairly for the contributions we make to our company,” he said.

“Our goal is to continue to work with management to reach a contract,” Gauthier said. “Although we don’t want to strike, we are fully prepared to do so if that’s what it takes to achieve the contract that we deserve. We have played an essential role in building Air Transat into Canada’s leading charter airline and in helping its parent company remain profitable and competitive. We are seeking contract improvements that the company can afford and that bring us more in line with our peers in this demanding profession,” Gauthier said.

The Air Transat pilot negotiations are in federal conciliation, which is scheduled to end May 6. Under the Canada Labour Code, the flight crewmembers may strike after the end of a 21-day cooling-off period following the conciliation period, provided they give 72 hours strike notice.

Air Transat, a subsidiary of Transat A.T. Inc., provides charter service linking Canada’s principal cities to vacation destinations throughout the Americas and Europe. The airline’s 320 professional, highly trained flight crewmembers operate a fleet of wide body Airbus and Lockheed aircrafts.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union representing 66,000 pilots at 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA web site at http://www.alpa.org.

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