Deal would give pilots 42% raise over four years

Air Canada has offered its pilots a INDEX 42 per cent pay raise over four years FULL in a tentative agreement to avoid a potential strike or lockout.

- ILYAS HUSSEIN AND CLARRIE FEINSTEIN

The deal, reached shortly after midnight on Sunday, is a four-year collective agreement that prevents a major shutdown of Canada's largest airline that would have officially began on Wednesday, affecting more than 100,000 passengers who fly on the airline every day.

Both sides were in a position to provide a 72-hour strike or lockout notice on Sunday, which would have disrupted the 670 daily flights on average operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge.

Both carriers will operate as normal during the ratification vote.

Air Canada said the terms of the new deal will remain confidential pending the vote, which is expected to be completed over the next month, and approval by the airline’s board of directors.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union representing 5,200 of its pilots, said the agreement, if ratified, will generate approximately an additional $1.9 billion for Air Canada pilots over the course of the deal, which requires majority of voters to approve.

An executive summary of the tentative deal was posted on the strike site created by the union Sunday, revealing that the airline’s pilots will receive a four-year cumulative pay rate increase of approximately 41.7 per cent.