Could Your Airline Go on Strike? Important Dates to Know

I’m writing this article in August 2026, and it’s the second consecutive year that this most Roman of months has subjected Canadians to the difficulties caused by industrial action. One minute past midnight at the start of the month’s inaugural long weekend, some 4,400 WestJet cabin crew walked off the job.

The airline answered with a lockout notice, melting approximately 500 flights off the schedule. A tentative deal was struck soon thereafter, but not before thousands of Canadians spent their long weekend refreshing the WestJet from sticky airport floors.

Sound familiar? It should. Air Canada’s flight attendants did the same thing in August 2025, causing even more disruption across their wider aerial footprint. The thing about airline strikes, though, is that they are rarely surprises. They cluster around one predictable event: the expiry of contracts for unionized employees. 

Learn the dates, and you can see the turbulence coming months in advance. So let’s map every major airline union contract in North America so you can mark your calendar accordingly.

Please note: nobody at Frugal Flyer is a labour lawyer. We do not understand the intricacies of every situation. We simply want to provide this data for informational purposes only.

What is an Airline Strike (AKA Industrial Action)?

An airline strike happens when a union representing airline employees legally exercises its right to withdraw labour in pursuit of a better collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Keep this acronym in mind, as it’s going to be coming up a lot.

Strikes are the “nuclear option” of contract talks, and in North America they get deployed (or at least threatened) regularly.

Oftentimes, the threat alone is more than enough. For example, WestJet’s pilots voted 93% in favour of strike action in May 2023 and reached a deal mere hours before their strike deadline, without a single flight cancelled by a walkout. Heck, they even managed to get Westjet’s budget arm Swoop shut down and folded into the mainline business. Similarly, Porter’s flight dispatchers pulled the same move in January 2026, settling their first contract days before a legal strike could begin.

Which brings up an important point: pilots and flight attendants get the headlines, but they are far from the only groups that can ground an airline. Separate unions typically represent pilots, cabin crew, mechanics, dispatchers, and airport ground staff, and any of them can cause the show to come to a screeching halt. 

WestJet’s aircraft maintenance engineers proved this in June 2024, where they managed to cancel hundreds of flights over the Canada Day long weekend. Porter’s 36 dispatchers, a group small enough to fit on a Dash 8, could have shut down the entire airline on their own.

Strikes aren’t always legal – there are “wildcat” strikes that can happen without legal sanction, but these are rarer. Generally speaking, employers will lock out employees (not permitting them access or ability to work) before a strike begins so as to control the fallout better.

The most infamous example of this remains the 1981 US air traffic controllers strike, when the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked out illegally and President Reagan responded by firing more than 11,000 controllers and banning them from federal rehiring for over a decade. The union itself got decertified. This is a worst case scenario and hasn’t been seen for almost 50 years, but the point stands: air travel is a vitally important business.

Why Airline Strikes are More Common in North America

A few forces make North America a hotbed for airline labour disputes.

First, union militancy here is real, and it is organized around pattern bargaining. When Delta’s pilots landed a 34% raise in early 2023, United and American pilots extracted matching deals within months. When Air Canada’s flight attendants won “ground pay” in 2025 (wages paid on the tarmac rather than in the air), WestJet’s cabin crew made ending unpaid work the centrepiece of their 2026 fight, and Porter’s newly unionized crews are now pushing for the same. In unionized environments, each contract tends to ratchet up the next.

Second, air service is viewed as essential, which hands workers enormous leverage. A three-day strike can strand hundreds of thousands of people, so governments and airlines feel intense pressure to settle.

Contrast this with much of East Asia, where airline jobs carry serious prestige and unions have historically focused on harmony with management rather than extracting concessions. Strikes at flag carriers there are exceptionally rare, and often met with extreme hostility by both politicians and the public. For example, the late great President of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew threatened to personally shut down the airline and start again if pilots from Singapore Airlines dared to strike.

Finally, unlike in East Asia or other parts of the world, North America is a generally pro-labour jurisdiction. The right to strike and join unions is constitutionally enshrined in both Canada and the United States, and to a lesser extent Mexico.

This is where we get into an interesting nuance: in the United States, unions representing airline employees often vote to strike. However, it’s rarer that they’re even able to do so. This is because air travel in the US is regulated under the Railway Labor Act, meaning that to be permitted to legally strike, negotiations have to be deemed “exhausted” in front of a National Mediation Board. This Board usually delays such permission, and the President can directly appoint his own Board to avoid crises.

The last major US airline strike ever approved was a walkout by Spirit’s pilots back in 2010, and that carrier probably no longer exists for a reason.

All of these factors make strikes or other forms of industrial action leading to disruption (such as “work to rule”) much likelier in this hemisphere anytime a CBA is due to expire – or be in a position to be amendable. So know when that might be, and you can plan your travel around it.

Major North American Airlines – Unions & CBA Expiry Dates

The information below is current as of August 2026.

Air Canada

Canada’s flag carrier, aka the front organization for the program we know and love called Aeroplan, runs on three big unions. 

Its 5,400 pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), ratified a four-year deal in October 2024 that expires September 29, 2027.

Air Canada’s 10,000-plus flight attendants at mainline and Rouge, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), went on strike in August 2025, rejected the wage offer by 99.1%, and had final wages settled by an arbitrator in February 2026; their contract now runs to March 2029. These are not to be confused with the employees of the liveried subcontractor Air Canada Express.

The carrier’s 11,000 ground, maintenance, and cargo workers are affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) ratified a fresh four-year deal in July 2026 that runs to March 31, 2030.

There are other smaller unions, but these are the big three and the biggest to note are the ALPA for September of ‘27.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska is mid-merger with Hawaiian, which makes its labour picture unusually tangled. Both carriers’ pilots are ALPA members and have been negotiating a single joint contract since 2025, with no deal as of mid-2026, though the new contract is slated to be based on Alaska’s CBA. 

The flight attendants at both airlines belong to the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA); Alaska’s crews ratified an improved standalone contract in early 2025, Hawaiian’s extended theirs to February 2028 to line the two up, and joint talks are grinding along in parallel.

Mechanics at both carriers voted in February 2026 to consolidate under the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA); Alaska’s AMFA deal is amendable October 17, 2028, with a joint contract still to bargain.

Alaska is certainly one to watch for both their mechanics and pilots, though it looks like any real threat is for the moment postponed until if and when merger discussions fall apart.

American Airlines

American’s pilots belong to the Allied Pilots Association (APA), an independent union, under a 2023 contract that becomes amendable August 1, 2027, with a clause letting the next round of bargaining open as early as November 2026.  This means that no strike position is likely before August of 2027, as the union will need to conduct a vote to be legally permitted to do so.

Its flight attendants, represented by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), ratified a five-year deal in September 2024 that runs to October 1, 2029 and made them the first unionized crew group to lock in boarding/tarmac pay – something that’s inspired other airlines like Air Canada to follow.

Mechanics and fleet service workers bargain through the joint TWU-IAM Association, some 34,000 people whose extension becomes amendable January 1, 2027, the nearest date on American’s calendar.

So if you’re booking award flights with American Airlines AAdvantage via transfer from RBC Avion, beware the New Year.

Delta Air Lines

Delta is the odd one out: most of its frontline workforce is not unionized at all. The glaring exception is its pilots, whose ALPA contract becomes amendable at the very end of 2026. Negotiations opened in early 2026 and have already turned testy, with the union pushing to bank another industry-leading raise while Delta floats changes to scheduling rules. Meanwhile, AFA-CWA continues its long-running campaign to organize Delta’s flight attendants, who for are unable to either negotiate collectively for wages nor strike.

So if you are an avid collector of SkyMiles and shun its appellation as a form of “peso,” be ready for potential problems beginning on New Year’s Day 2027.

Porter Airlines

Porter operated union-free for its first two decades, then unionized almost everything within a single year. Its 800-plus pilots joined ALPA in August 2025, its 1,200 cabin crew joined CUPE the same month, and its dispatchers had already organized with the Canadian Airline Dispatchers Association (CALDA). 

The dispatchers got to the finish line first, ratifying a first contract in January 2026 after coming within days of a strike that would have grounded the airline. Pilots and cabin crew are both still negotiating their first agreements. Maintenance engineers, for now, remain non-union.

The good news for VIPorter collectors is that you don’t need to fret for a while – but keep an eye on labour negotiations!

Southwest Airlines

Southwest doesn’t fly to Canada, but plenty of Canadians fly it stateside. Its pilots, represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), ratified a five-year deal in January 2024 that becomes amendable January 1, 2029. 

Its 20,000 flight attendants with Transport Workers Union Local 556 took the union’s first-ever strike authorization vote (98% in favour) back in 2024. The airline blinked, so their new contract runs to May 2028, with an option to open talks a year early. Its AMFA-represented mechanics are on a similar clock, with their contract up for amendments on August 16, 2027, though it’s eligible for early negotiations starting a year early.

This means that there is a good chance of seeing issues in the summer of 2027.

United Airlines

United just closed the book on the messiest flight attendant negotiation in recent memory. Having gone without a raise since 2020, United’s AFA members rejected a tentative deal by 71% in mid-2025, then ratified a much richer five-year contract in May 2026, complete with boarding pay and retroactive raises, pushing their next amendable date out to 2031. 

United’s 18,000-plus pilots are under an ALPA contract that becomes amendable September 30, 2027, and its 11,000 Teamsters-represented technicians reached an agreement in principle in July 2026, with ratification pending.

If you collect MileagePlus miles, the horizon is clear until pilot bargaining opens in 2027, and all likelihood points toward few future issues.

WestJet

WestJet has been Canada’s labour-drama enfant terrible. First its ALPA pilots successfully threatened a strike in 2023 which was only avoided when the CEO agreed to shutter Swoop, WestJet’s budget subsidiary. This contract expires December 31, 2026 so be on the lookout this holiday season!

The next summer, the carrier’s AMFA mechanics conducted a strike that cancelled thousands of flights and won them a contract lasting to spring 2029.

Most recently, WestJet’s cabin crew (represented by CUPE Local 8125) launched a strike in August 2026 before reaching a tentative agreement, which is now out for ratification. This is likely to be a five-year contract if and when approved.

WestJet Encore’s (similar to Air Canada Rouge)  pilots have a separate ALPA-negotiated CBA, which is good until December 2028.

Summary – Unions & CBA Expiry Dates

Airline	Employee Group	Union	CBA Expiry / Amendable Date	What to Know
Air Canada	Pilots	ALPA	September 29, 2027	Next major Air Canada labour date to watch
Air Canada	Flight Attendants	CUPE	March 2029	New contract followed the August 2025 strike
Air Canada	Ground, Maintenance & Cargo	IAMAW	March 31, 2030	Four-year agreement ratified July 2026
Alaska Airlines / Hawaiian	Pilots	ALPA	TBD	Joint contract negotiations ongoing
Alaska / Hawaiian	Flight Attendants	AFA-CWA	February 2028 (Hawaiian)	Joint bargaining also underway
Alaska / Hawaiian	Mechanics	AMFA	October 17, 2028	Alaska agreement amendable
American Airlines	Mechanics & Fleet Service	TWU-IAM	January 1, 2027	Earliest major American labour date
American Airlines	Pilots	APA	August 1, 2027	Bargaining can open as early as November 2026
American Airlines	Flight Attendants	APFA	October 1, 2029	Five-year agreement
Delta Air Lines	Pilots	ALPA	End of 2026	Potential labour issues beginning around January 1, 2027
Porter Airlines	Pilots	ALPA	TBD	Negotiating first collective agreement
Porter Airlines	Flight Attendants	CUPE	TBD	Negotiating first collective agreement
Porter Airlines	Dispatchers	CALDA	TBD	First contract ratified January 2026
Southwest Airlines	Mechanics	AMFA	August 16, 2027	Early negotiations eligible from August 2026
Southwest Airlines	Flight Attendants	TWU Local 556	May 2028	Talks can potentially open one year early
Southwest Airlines	Pilots	SWAPA	January 1, 2029	Five-year agreement
United Airlines	Pilots	ALPA	September 30, 2027	Main United labour date to watch
United Airlines	Flight Attendants	AFA-CWA	2031	New five-year contract ratified May 2026
United Airlines	Technicians	Teamsters	TBD	Agreement in principle reached July 2026
WestJet	Pilots	ALPA	December 31, 2026	Most immediate major date to watch
WestJet	Mechanics	AMFA	Spring 2029	Contract followed June 2024 strike
WestJet	Flight Attendants	CUPE Local 8125	TBD — likely ~2031	Five-year tentative agreement following August 2026 strike
WestJet Encore	Pilots	ALPA	December 2028	Separate contract from WestJet mainline

What to Do If an Airline You Have Travel Booked With Strikes

The best defence against labour-induced disruptions start before you book. If your travel dates land near an expiry date from the table above, build in slack: pick refundable fares where the price gap is small, or at least know all change fees before you commit.

Book directly with the airline rather than through a third party. During a strike, airlines rebook and refund their own customers first, while online travel agency bookings get stuck in support-ticket purgatory between two companies pointing at each other.

Be sure to pay with a credit card that carries trip interruption and flight delay insurance, which can cover hotels, meals, and replacement transportation when things fall apart. We have a full breakdown of how credit card travel insurance applies to award flights.

For most Canadians, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite+ Card is the easy pick that comes with all the above coverages plus lounge access.

Once a strike notice actually drops, move fast. Airlines typically open goodwill windows offering free changes and refunds, as WestJet did in August 2026, and the best alternate flights disappear within hours. If the disruption is unacceptable, cancel and take the refund rather than gambling on a last-minute settlement.

Finally, and this is a point of constant chagrin: don’t expect to be written a cheque or made whole. Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) often treat strikes, even ones by the airline’s own staff, as outside the carrier’s control.

Thus the cash compensation tables need not apply and you can at best expect a rebooking or refund, if those, and nothing more. Our guide to WestJet delay compensation covers how those claims work in practice (spoiler alert: oftentimes not very well).

The notable exception is flying out of Europe, where the provisions of EU261 are very stringent and air travelers being delayed for any reason can usually expect compensation.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this article. While airline strikes are rarer in the United States due to its legal structure, they are not without precedent.

Here in the Great White North, we can expect them more often, and not simply from pilots but from several different groups of employees who make flying possible.

For now, circle your calendars for New Year’s Day of 2027 – that’s when there may be issues with WestJet’s mainline – just remember, if you’re on WestJet Encore only, you may be safe.

Until next time, don’t let a labour disruption be a life disruption.