Air Transat pilots secure wage gains topping 50 per cent under tentative deal

An Air Transat Airbus A330 is silhouetted against the full moon when approaching for landing in Lisbon just before sunrise, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) (Armando Franca)

Most Air Transat pilots will see raises of well over 50 per cent under the tentative deal reached at the eleventh hour this week with parent company Transat A.T. Inc.

The vast majority of senior pilots would make nearly $388,000 a year by May 2029, while experienced first officers’ salary would top $238,000, according to a copy of the agreement in principle obtained by The Canadian Press.

The five-year deal retroactive to this past May would see captains start off at $220,500 in their first year of service and first officers at $85,000. Those two figures represent jumps of roughly 47 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively.

The would-be agreement means an extra $100,000-plus each year for the most experienced captains.

It also lays out a signing bonus of 11 per cent of salary, spread over two years.

Representatives from Transat and the Air Line Pilots Association told The Canadian Press on Wednesday that the agreement includes major gains that put pilots in the same ballpark as their colleagues at Air Canada and WestJet.

“We are where the industry is at,” said Bradley Small, who chairs the union’s Air Transat contingent.

“We recognized the value of our pilots, but we gained some productivity,” said Transat spokeswoman Andréan Gagné.

Air Transat’s 750 pilots will wrap up a vote on the would-be agreement on Jan. 6, after a deal was reached Tuesday evening with hours to go on a strike deadline.

The labour dispute would have marked the third strike in a year and a half in Canada’s airline sector, as workers seek to make gains that match those achieved elsewhere in North America amid the rising cost of living.

Last year, Air Canada pilots notched a wage hike of nearly 42 per cent over four years. The increase outstrips major gains won the previous year by pilots at the three biggest U.S. airlines, where pay bumps ranged between 34 and 40 per cent — although they were starting from a higher baseline.

In 2023, WestJet pilots secured a 24 per cent pay bump over four years.

The ratification vote opens on Dec. 19, after the union presents the deal to members in Toronto and Montreal next week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2025.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press