Canada’s WestJet Airlines has reached a last-minute deal with its pilots’ union to avert a strike ahead of the busy May long weekend.
A statement from the Air Line Pilots Association said union leaders voted to approve an “agreement-in-principle,” with a membership vote to begin in coming days.
Details of the deal have not been made public, but the pilots were seeking more pay and more control over scheduling in the contract negotiations.
The union has said that WestJet pays its pilots about half what some of their U.S. counterparts earn, and that they were seeking greater parity with American carriers.
The Calgary-based airline had grounded the bulk of its aircraft fleet on May 18, parking about 130 planes at airports from Vancouver to Halifax and leaving thousands of travellers stranded.
About 1,800 pilots at WestJet and its Swoop subsidiary had been ready to walk off the job at 3 a.m. today (May 19) after the union served a strike notice earlier in the week.
WestJet said in a statement that it is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the pilots. The airline added that it will take time for its network to catch up following the May 18 shutdown of operations.
WestJet is privately held and its stock is not traded on a public exchange.
