Sept 15 (Reuters) - Air Canada ( ACDVF ) said early on

Sunday it had reached a tentative agreement with its pilots

union over a new four-year collective agreement, in a deal that

will avert a near-term strike or lockout.

Canada's largest airline said in a statement that the terms

of its new agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)

representing more than 5,200 pilots will remain confidential,

pending a ratification vote by its members expected to be

completed over the next month.

Air Canada ( ACDVF ) and Air Canada Rouge, which operate nearly 670

flights per day, will continue flying as normal, the airline

said.

Before the tentative agreement was reached, the airline had

been preparing to progressively cancel flights over three days,

and completely shut down its operations as early as 12:01 a.m.

EDT (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

The ALPA said in a separate statement that its leaders had

approved the tentative agreement with Air Canada ( ACDVF ) for member

ratification.

Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon said in a post on X that

travel disruptions for Canadians were prevented thanks to the

hard work of the parties and federal mediators.

Air Canada's ( ACDVF ) pilots were demanding wage rates that would

narrow the pay gap with their counterparts at major U.S.

carriers such as United Airlines.