TORONTO — Air Canada’s pilots are readying for a possible strike by opening a strike headquarters in Toronto this weekend. 

Negotiations between the airline and the pilots, who are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), have been ongoing since June 2023. The two sides are now nearing the end of a 21-day cooling -off period, which was set on Aug. 26, 2024. If no agreement is reached by the end of the cooling-off period, Air Canada pilots will be in a position for job action as early as Sept. 18.

Air Canada announced yesterday that it is finalizing contingency plans to suspend most of its operations now that talks with ALPA are “nearing an impasse over the union’s excessive wage demands.”

According to the pilots, the new strike headquarters in Toronto will ensure that they are fully supported should a strike occur or if Air Canada decides to shut down operations. This includes tracking registered pilots, keeping them updated on the status of the strike, and working on repatriating them home if the strike continues for a longer duration.

“Air Canada has the power to avert a strike and the significant air travel disruptions that flow from it, but first they have to get serious at the bargaining table and recognize the value our pilots brings to the airline,” said First Officer Charlene Hudy, Chair of the Air Canada ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC). “Should Air Canada force a strike or lockout and operational shut down, we need to ensure our pilots are fully supported, as they will be displaced around the globe.”