Air Transat flight attendants now the highest paid in the industry

MONTREAL, Feb. 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Air Transat's 2,100 flight attendants have a new collective agreement that makes them the highest paid in the industry in Canada. Following information meetings held from February 19 to 22, they voted by 62,7% to accept the recommendation of federal mediators. This new contract provides for total compound salary increases of 30% over five years, i.e. from November 1, 2022 to October 31, 2027.

It also provides for the abolition of the first two salary levels, meaning that flight attendants with less than three years of seniority will immediately access the third level, which represents a significant increase in salary.

In addition, this new collective agreement will secure the number of crew seats on all flights lasting 7 hours or more and those departing Canada after 10 p.m. It will also increase the number of personal leave days and vacation days.

"It's been a long and complex process, but we're finally crossing the finish line with substantial pay increases for our flight attendant members. This will be an extremely well-deserved adjustment after years of effort to help the company through financial difficulties, followed by the catastrophic years of the pandemic and a period of high inflation," noted Chantal Bourgeois, CUPE National Representative.

The Air Transat Component encompasses two local unions based at airports in Montreal (YUL) and in Toronto (YYZ). It is part of CUPE's Airline Division, which represents more than 18,500 flight attendants employed at Air Transat, Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, Sunwing, WestJet, Encore, Calm Air, Canadian North, Pivot Airlines, Flair Airlines, PAL and Pascan.

CUPE is Canada's largest union, with 740,000 members across the country. It represents workers in health care, emergency services, education, early learning and child care, municipalities, social services, libraries, utilities, transportation, airlines and more.

SOURCE Canadian Union of Public Employees (FTQ)