Airline pilots are demanding better wages and benefits from their employers, increasing financial pressure on airlines, which are just beginning to recover from the pandemic.

The union representing some 320 aviators at WestJet Encore, the regional service of the WestJet carrier, announced Tuesday its intention to launch negotiations for its second collective agreement.

The move comes after 1,800 mainline pilots from WestJet and its budget subsidiary Swoop ratified a new deal in June that puts them on a level pay scale, giving crew a 24% pay rise over four years and resulting in the closure of Swoop at the end of October.

Days later, some 4,500 Air Canada pilots launched their own bargaining process, as unions seek gains that would bring them closer to agreements reached in the United States, which threaten to draw Canadian workers south of the border.

Between March and September, pilots from Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines reached agreements providing for four-year salary increases ranging from 34% to 40%.

Labor shortages continue to plague the aviation industry as the sector emerges from COVID-19 and last year’s travel disruptions, as a labor shortage affects multiple areas ranging from piloting to air traffic control, including ground handling.