Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat has secured labour peace through 2030 after 90 % of its 725 pilots voted to approve a new five-year collective agreement on 6 January 2026. The deal, negotiated with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), is retroactive to 1 May 2025 and delivers pay rises plus greater schedule flexibility.
The ratification ends months of uncertainty that had weighed on winter-sun bookings. In early December the two sides reached a tentative accord just hours before a planned strike that threatened peak-season travel to the Caribbean and Europe. Travel-management companies have already reinstated normal approval routing for Transat flights, and package-tour operators expect minimal disruption.
![Air Transat pilots ratify five-year deal, averting future strike risk]()
For companies and travellers now rushing to lock in new itineraries, VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) offers a quick way to secure the necessary visas or eTAs for Canada and onward destinations, simplifying documentation so that travel plans can keep pace with Air Transat’s newly predictable schedule.
From a mobility perspective, the agreement removes the risk of short-notice chartering costs that some employers had budgeted as contingency for corporate incentive trips. It also adds stability to the tight Montreal pilot labour market, reducing the likelihood that Transat captains will jump to mainline carriers in 2026.
The contract includes language-testing credits for bilingual crews and enhanced duty-time protections, changes that may inspire similar demands at WestJet and Air Canada as those groups enter bargaining later this year. Companies reliant on Transat’s Paris and Lisbon services for rotational assignees can now lock in fares with greater confidence.
The ratification ends months of uncertainty that had weighed on winter-sun bookings. In early December the two sides reached a tentative accord just hours before a planned strike that threatened peak-season travel to the Caribbean and Europe. Travel-management companies have already reinstated normal approval routing for Transat flights, and package-tour operators expect minimal disruption.
For companies and travellers now rushing to lock in new itineraries, VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) offers a quick way to secure the necessary visas or eTAs for Canada and onward destinations, simplifying documentation so that travel plans can keep pace with Air Transat’s newly predictable schedule.
From a mobility perspective, the agreement removes the risk of short-notice chartering costs that some employers had budgeted as contingency for corporate incentive trips. It also adds stability to the tight Montreal pilot labour market, reducing the likelihood that Transat captains will jump to mainline carriers in 2026.
The contract includes language-testing credits for bilingual crews and enhanced duty-time protections, changes that may inspire similar demands at WestJet and Air Canada as those groups enter bargaining later this year. Companies reliant on Transat’s Paris and Lisbon services for rotational assignees can now lock in fares with greater confidence.
