Flying Air Transat? Here’s what customers need to know as strike looms
Some travellers may be feeling anxious as another strike threatens to disrupt flights.
Air Transat announced on Sunday it will gradually shut down operations over the next three days in response to a 72-hour strike mandate issued by the union representing its 750 pilots. This comes just a few months after Air Canada grounded flights as some 10,000 flight attendants went on strike in August.
Air Transat pilots could be on strike as soon as Wednesday at 3 a.m. ET, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) said Sunday. Meanwhile, Air Transat says flights will be gradually suspended between Monday and Tuesday, while its priority is to “minimize disruption for customers.”
“Any strike action is hugely disruptive. At this time of year, people will be flying to visit friends and relatives and of course passengers will be worried about their ability to be with loved ones,” Geraint Harvey, an expert on labour relations in commercial aviation at Western University in London, Ont., said in a statement Monday.
But where does that leave travellers? Let’s break it down.
Some Air Transat flights having already been cancelled Monday morning, as the airline begins to scale back operations ahead of a pilot strike that could begin as early as Wednesday at 3 a.m. ET.
What will happen to flights?
Air Transat says flight cancellations will begin progressively on Monday, with a complete suspension by Tuesday. Essentially, if you’re flying on Air Transat between now and Friday, your travel plans may be affected, the airline says.
“The company deeply regrets the impact this disruption will have on travellers during this busy period,” the airline says on it website.
On its website, Air Transat says it flies year-round out of Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. It also offers seasonal service to various destinations, including Edmonton, Fredericton, Halifax, Hamilton, Kelowna, London, Moncton, Ottawa, Regina, Rouyn, Saskatoon, St. John’s, Windsor and Winnipeg.
According to Air Transat’s website, if your flight is cancelled, you will be notified directly by email and refunded according to the payment method on file.
The company’s priority is to bring travellers back home from their destinations, the airline explained in a statement to CBC News. To that end, it’s adding four additional flights on Monday to bring some travellers back early, Air Transat says.
How many flights have been cancelled so far?
In a statement, Air Transat said that for now, flights scheduled for Monday are operating as planned.
A quick glance at the websites of all the Canadian airports Transat flies in and out of on Monday morning showed a few scheduled Transat flight cancellations over the next two days, although it’s unclear whether they’re related to the labour action.
At Toronto’s Pearson airport, for instance, a flight to Edmonton today was cancelled, one to Cancun and another from…
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