MONTREAL — Air Transat has shared a statement as the airline’s pilots launch their strike vote, and in the wake of informational picketing in Montreal and Toronto.

The airline’s pilots escalated their contract campaign with coordinated information picketing on the same day they opened a ballot to vote on a strike.

Hundreds of Air Transat pilots conducted information picketing on Nov. 17, at YUL and YYZ, and at Air Transat’s corporate headquarters in Montreal. They were joined by pilots from Air Canada, WestJet, Jazz, Porter and a dozen U.S. airlines who offered their support.

The pilots entered contract talks with Air Transat in January 2025. The two sides moved into a conciliation period on Sept. 19, which ended Nov. 18. A 21-day cooling-off period begins today, Nov. 19, and will end on Dec. 10, at which point the union could call a strike or the airline could initiate a lockout.

The strike authorization vote will run until Dec. 2 and depending on the result, would allow the union to call a strike once legally permitted.

“Despite the end of the conciliation period later this week, we are continuing discussions with the appointed conciliators, given the productive dialogue,” said Air Transat in a statement shared with Profession Voyages, part of The Travelweek Group.

“We remain at the table, and several negotiation dates have already been scheduled through the end of the month.

“We have made significant progress in recent months and remain fully committed to the negotiating table.

“From the outset, we agreed with the union to undertake a complete overhaul of the collective agreement, and both parties were aware of the timeframe required to ensure thorough work.

“With this in mind, we began negotiations last January – three months before the collective agreement was due to expire. This timeline remains reasonable for a project of this scope. For reference, the industry average for a regular collective agreement update is approximately 18 months.

“We remain confident that we will reach a negotiated agreement that reflects market and business realities, while ensuring that our operations continue as normal for our customers.

“Demonstrations like [those on Nov. 17] are an integral part of the negotiation process, and we respect our pilots’ right to express their views.

“There is no impact on our flight schedule, and customers can expect operations to proceed as normal.”