Air Canada pilots vote for strike, could hit picket lines in September – National [Video]

Air Canada pilots have voted in favour of a strike if the airline can’t reach a deal with the union, a move that could ground planes and disrupt travel plans for Canadians across the country.

The results released Thursday show 98 per cent of Air Canada pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) took part in the vote and of those participating members, 98 per cent voted in favour of striking.

If a deal is not reached, pilots will be in a legal position to walk off the job in mid-September following a 21-day cooling period that starts on Aug. 26.

Several rounds of talks took place between the airline and the union between January and June. At the end of June, however, they entered a 60-day period of federal conciliation.

“We want to reach an agreement with Air Canada to avert a strike and although we have …