WestJet Encore pilots have reached a tentative agreement for a first contract with the airline after a year of “tense” negotiations, the Airline Pilots Association said in a news release. The union, which also represents WestJet’s mainline pilots, said the contract will increase wages and improve working conditions for the feeder line’s complement of Q400 pilots. Details of the new contract will be released after the membership has been briefed and no date has been set for a ratification vote.
“After months of hard-fought bargaining, we are pleased to have reached a collectively bargained tentative agreement, and we look forward to giving our pilots the opportunity to vote on it,” said Capt. Ryan Petrie, WEN ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC) chairman. “This TA represents a step in the right direction, bringing our pilot wages and working conditions more in line with our peers at other carriers.”