Airlines face growing pressure from pilot unions, as threat of brain drain looms

By The Canadian Press on September 6, 2023.

Pilots are demanding better wages and benefits from their employers, raising financial pressure on airlines that are just starting to recover from the pandemic.

The union representing some 320 aviators at WestJet Encore, the carrier’s regional service, announced Tuesday they plan to launch negotiations on their second collective agreement.

The move comes after 1,800 pilots with WestJet’s main operation and its budget subsidiary Swoop ratified a new deal in June that brings them onto a level pay scale, giving flight crews a 24 per cent wage bump over four years and resulting in Swoop’s shutdown at the end of October.

Days later, some 4,500 Air Canada pilots kick-started the bargaining process, as unions seek gains that will bring them closer to deals in the U.S., which threaten to lure Canadian workers south of the border.

Between March and September, pilots at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines secured agreements that included four-year pay hikes ranging from 34 per cent to 40 per cent.

Labour shortages continue to plague the aviation industry as the sector emerges from COVID-19 and the past year’s travel turmoil, with a dearth of workers in areas ranging from the flight deck to air traffic control and ground handling.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2023.

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