Air Canada pilots who could soon go on strike stage picket at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

Air Canada pilots who could go on strike as early as mid-September are holding an informational picket on Tuesday afternoon at Pearson Airport in Mississauga.

Hundreds of pilots employed by Canada’s biggest airline are also staging similar pickets at airports in Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg on Tuesday as they look to “secure a contract that reflects the value we bring to Air Canada,” a union leader said recently.

The Pearson picket is scheduled to take place from 2 to 3 p.m. outside Terminal 1, departures level.

In a post to social media early Tuesday afternoon, Pearson officials said they “do not expect any impact on operations or passengers” due to the picket action.

“Teams are working to keep traffic moving smoothly,” airport officials added.

The carrier’s 5,400 pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, voted 98 per cent in favour of strike action if a collective agreement cannot be struck. The earliest the pilots can go on strike is Sept. 17.

The pilots’ vote closed last Thursday morning.

“Today, more than 5,400 Air Canada pilots sent a clear message to management that we are willing to go the distance to secure a contract that reflects the value we bring to Air Canada,” Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada ALPA master executive council, said last Thursday.

Air Canada pilots picket at Pearson Airport on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo: Pearson Airport X)

The Canada-wide informational pickets on Tuesday will reportedly include Air Canada pilots’ peers from other airlines as well in a show of solidarity.

The pilots have been in contract negotiations since June 2023, with the wide wage gap between Canadian pilots and their counterparts in the U.S. one of the main issues. The pilots are working under pay rates and quality-of-life provisions negotiated in 2014, the union says.

Negotiations for a new agreement began in June 2023. Talks entered private mediation in January 2024 and lasted until June. The union says it filed a notice of dispute because the two sides were unable to reach a new collective agreement.

Air Canada has said it is still working to come to an agreement.

The union hopes for a deal, too, according to its leaders.

“Our goal is to avoid a strike, and our focus remains on modernizing our contract for Air Canada pilots,” Hudy said. “However, management continues to force us closer to a strike position by not listening to our needs at the negotiating table regarding fair compensation, respectable retirement benefits and quality-of-life improvements.”

— with files from Karen Longwell