‘We want a deal’: Winter stoppage on the horizon for popular airline

A possible Air Transat job action could ground flights in the Maritimes.

The holiday travel season is here and, with snow falling across the Maritimes, some people are turning their thoughts to beaches and palm trees.

“In particular, we really love those sun destinations,” says CAA Travel spokesperson Julia Kent.

There are 10 destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico served direct non-stop from Halifax but, with a work-stoppage on the horizon for Air Transat, there could be a few less options for vacationers.

“They operate four, sun-seasonal destinations and they are on a weekly or twice weekly basis. So, there’s approximately 1,400 departing passengers who could be affected,” says Halifax airport communications advisor Jessica Kinney.

After a year of negotiations that didn’t produce a new contract, the pilot’s union issued their 72-hour strike notice Sunday. Wages are a sticking point.

Monday, the company announced flights would be continuing as scheduled for now and a program was starting to bring as many travelers back home as possible.

Union officials say they’re ready to talk.

“We’re engaged, we’re at the table, and we want a deal to make sure that our passengers can get to their destination,” says Bradley Small.

The airline’s flights out of Halifax are scheduled to start in a week, more will follow later in the winter.

A prolonged strike could not only affect Air Transat passengers but also limit availability on other airlines.

“Air Transat is pretty popular in the Atlantic region. Anytime we take one airline out of the mix the others are impacted. So, capacity on other airlines is going to be impacted if one airline goes down,” says Kent.

In an email to CTV News, Air Transat says negotiations took place through the night and continued Monday and progress was made.