Summary
- Passengers with Air Canada can now change bookings for some flights in September due to a potential pilots’ strike.
- Almost all Air Canada pilots voted in favor of a strike, but there is a 21-day cooling off period.
- The carrier is committed to negotiating with pilots to reach a settlement before the strike can occur.
With the possibility of a pilots’ strike in a few weeks, Air Canada is allowing passengers booked on some of the flights in September to make changes to their reservations. Almost all of the carrier’s pilots recently voted in favor of a strike, but before that, there’s a mandatory 21-day cooling off period that ends on September 17.
Flexible rebooking
Air Canadasays that it has introduced a goodwill policy to give all customers flexibility with imminent travel plans. Passengers who are traveling with the carrier immediately preceding and after the end of the cooling off period on September 17 can now change their booking without any additional costs.
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Air Canada says that passengers with tickets in any class for travel between September 15 and 23 can make the following changes to their reservations:
A) rebook to any other Air Canada flight(s) with the same origin and destination up to November 30, 2024. Change fees and any other fees or fare difference will be waived, meaning such changes can be made at no cost for customers who choose to travel the same route in the same cabin.
or
B) cancel their flight and retain the residual value on a future travel credit. Refunds will be available as per fare rules for customers with refundable tickets; for customers with non-refundable tickets, refunds are not available as flights are scheduled to operate as normal.
or
C) cancel their flight and rebook travel for after November 30, in which case change fees will be waived but the customer will have to pay the fare difference, if any.
This policy also applies to passengers traveling on Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz or PAL Airlines.
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Pilots in favor of a strike
Almost all Air Canada Pilots (more than 98%)
recently voted in favor of a strike
. The voting was organized by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents over 5,400 Air Canada pilots.
The carrier’s cockpit crew filed a contract dispute in June this year with the Canadian Mediation and Conciliation Service. This was done after the union and Air Canada management failed to reach an agreement following a long negotiation that started a year earlier.
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Regarding the strike, Charlene Hudy, the Head of the ALPA Air Canada contingent, said that the vote was “a clear message to management” that Air Canada’s pilots could resort to these extreme measures to secure a deserving contract.
Cooling off period
The 21-day cooling off period will give some time to both parties to get back to the negotiating table to resolve the contract issues. Air Canada released a statement that said,
“Air Canada’s intention remains to reach a negotiated settlement with its pilots, one that recognizes their professionalism and contributions to the airline. During the talks, there has been significant progress and the three-week cooling off period gives the parties more than sufficient time to address any outstanding issues. Air Canada is fully committed to bargaining meaningfully throughout the period.”
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Hopefully, the union and the airline’s management will reach an agreement and the situation won’t escalate to a strike by the cockpit crew.
