The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that Bombardier said workers on a key program for the Canadian business jet maker have ratified a new labour contract that will deliver pay hikes of up to 18.5 per cent over five years. A Reuters dispatch to the Post says that the Montreal company is one of several in the aviation and aerospace sectors globally grappling with labour disputes as travel demand rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring prices push unions to demand bigger pay rises. The new contract will cover an estimated 1,800 workers, who mostly produce Bombardier's Challenger business jets, which accounted for a third of the company's deliveries in 2021. Companies from Bombardier to some European airlines are seeing wage disputes with workers amid rising inflation, adding to growing pressure on costs and discontent as the summer travel season kicks off. Inflation in Canada accelerated to 7.7 per cent in May, the highest rate since January, 1983. In the United States, pilots at almost all the major carriers are protesting, demanding higher pay and contract improvements due to "fatiguing" schedules. Aviation was battered during the COVID pandemic, with possibly 2.3 million jobs lost globally.