The President and Chief Executive Officer of Windsor International Airport says the news of an avoided strike by Air Canada pilots brought a smile to his face.
Mark Galvin is reacting to the news after Air Canada announced early Sunday morning that a tentative collective agreement has been reached with the union representing more than 5,200 of its pilots.
The airline and the union bargained until the last possible moment after struggling to reach an agreement earlier in the week.
The Air Line Pilots Association says if ratified, the deal will generate an approximate additional $1.9-billion of value for Air Canada pilots over its four years of agreement.
Galvin says this is good news.
"It's something we've certainly been monitoring and the sector relies on certainty as I've said, and that certainty people want. Disruption is difficult for everyone who has travel plans, so it brought a smile to my face and certainly glad that they came to a tentative agreement."
He says this is one less thing for travellers to worry about.
"People know that they don't have to keep monitoring, they should monitor anyway, but monitor in case to make alternate arrangements and scrambling, and I think it's one of those things that certainty is something everyone looks for when they're travelling, and they have a lot of things that they're balancing to go on on trips - and this is one less thing that they have to worry about."
Galvin says he's looking forward to moving forward.
"Any disruption is going to affect the whole sector as a whole, and that's something that obviously we like to see that they came to a tentative agreement, and look forward to the vote, and to move forward. And as we still are dealing with a lot of the ripple effects of the COVID pause - some positive news is good."
A ratification vote for the pilots will be completed over the next month.
The terms of the new deal will remain confidential until the vote is over.
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operate 670 daily flights on average, carrying more than 110,000 passengers.
The airline said customers who changed flights originally scheduled from between Sunday and Sept. 23 under its labour disruption plan can change their booking back to their original flight in the same cabin at no cost, providing there is space available.
-with files from The Canadian Press