Air Canada strike: Stoppage avoided as pilots, airline make deal [Video]

Travellers, business groups and politicians expressed fervent relief on Sunday after Air Canada and the union representing thousands of its pilots negotiated a new labour deal and averted a disruptive, countrywide shutdown.

Canada’s largest air carrier announced shortly after midnight Sunday that it had reached a tentative, four-year collective agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association.

The deal, reached after more than a year of contract negotiations, ended the possibility that the 5,200 Air Canada pilots represented by the union could be locked out or walk off the job. Any such move would have forced the airline to suspend nearly all operations, a prospect that raised concerns among business groups, passengers and even the prime minister.

At Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, travellers preparing for Sunday departures were breathing a sigh of relief.

“I wasn’t looking forward to an Air Canada strike, because I booked this ticket like a month and …