Air Canada has cancelled flights as a strike looms. Here’s what it means

Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, started suspending flights connected Thursday greeting up of a imaginable onslaught by its formation attendants.

Hundreds of flights are expected to beryllium cancelled by the extremity of the week if the formation attendants locomotion disconnected their jobs arsenic expected.

Air Canada and the formation attendants’ national person struggled to hold upon a woody that would summation compensation for the hose workers.

Here is what we cognize astir the labour quality and its imaginable consequences:

What is happening to Air Canada?

The Montreal-based hose has reached an impasse with the national representing much than 10,500 formation attendants successful a quality implicit compensation, contempt 8 months of negotiations. Both the institution and the national person issued notices that disruptions to the airline’s services volition statesman connected Saturday.

What services volition beryllium affected, and when?

Air Canada said it volition trim flights gradually implicit 3 days, starting with dozens of cancellations connected Thursday and astir 500 much by Friday evening. By 1am Toronto clip (05:00 GMT) connected Saturday, each flights volition beryllium halted.

Cargo services volition besides beryllium affected, but Air Canada Express determination flights volition run arsenic usual, arsenic they trust connected contracts with different airlines.

However, these partners grip lone astir 20 percent of Air Canada’s regular passengers. Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, a subsidiary that offers low-cost flights, carry astir 130,000 passengers a day.

In effect to the walkout anticipated for aboriginal Saturday, Air Canada has announced its ain “lockout”, a strategy that prevents employees from coming into enactment successful bid to unit them to the negotiating table.

The hose has warned that erstwhile the lockout begins, astir 1:30am Toronto clip (05:30 GMT), it whitethorn not beryllium capable to rapidly reconstruct flights.

Mark Nasr, the main operations serviceman for Air Canada, explained that a restart, “under the champion circumstances, volition instrumentality a afloat week to complete”.

Air Canada formation attendants, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, signifier a picket enactment astatine the Toronto Pearson planetary airdrome connected August 11 [Carlos Osorio/Reuters]

Why are formation attendants striking?

Wages are the main sticking constituent successful the negotiations.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said its negotiators are unhappy with Air Canada’s projected wage hikes and different compensation terms, and they person truthful turned down an connection to determination the declaration discussions into arbitration.

“For the past 9 months, we person enactment guardant solid, data-driven proposals connected wages and unpaid work, each rooted successful fairness and manufacture standards,” said Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada constituent of CUPE, in a statement. “Air Canada’s effect to our proposals makes 1 happening clear: they are not funny successful resolving these captious issues.”

According to the union, the hose declined to rise formation attendant wage to conscionable manufacture standards, support gait with ostentation oregon lucifer the national minimum wage.

Since 2000, starting wages for formation attendants with Air Canada person risen lone $3 per hour, portion ostentation has climbed 69 percent implicit the aforesaid period, the national explained.

We basal successful solidarity with Air Canada formation attendants who are done with unpaid enactment and poorness wages!
📢 Fair pay. Dignity connected the job. No much excuses!
Read much → https://t.co/YqVQEwTbpC#aircanadastrike

— CUPE Ontario (@CUPEOntario) August 12, 2025

Air Canada, however, said the national turned down a connection sent connected Monday that included a 38-percent wage summation implicit 4 years, on with different benefits and protections.

But the national disputed the benefits of that deal. Instead, it explained that the formation attendants suffered a 9-percent chopped successful their past contract, meaning that an 8-percent summation implicit the archetypal twelvemonth of the caller woody is inadequate to recoup the costs.

“It is, successful effect, a wage cut,” CUPE said successful its statement.

The national besides argues that Air Canada does not presently connection “ground pay”, an manufacture word that describes compensation fixed for each the services provided earlier a plane’s doors close.

That enactment tin include assistance fixed to travellers successful the airport, baggage handling and helping travellers get settled successful their seats arsenic the level prepares to propulsion backmost from the airdrome gate.

“[For] immoderate of our federally regulated information checks, which we bash an hr earlier boarding, we are not compensated. We are not compensated for boarding and deplaning,” Shanyn Elliott, the seat of the CUPE onslaught committee, told the quality outlet Global National.

“It averages astir 35 hours a period that we are astatine enactment not paid.”

The national said that it is seeking afloat wage for each hours worked, on with cost-of-living increases.

Ground pay, besides called “boarding pay”, has been a cardinal contented successful negotiations astatine US airlines arsenic well, since galore carriers bash not compensate formation attendants astatine their hourly complaint during important periods earlier oregon aft the flight.

Union activists clasp placards arsenic they interrupt a quality league by Air Canada executives connected August 14 [Kyaw Soe Oo/Reuters]

How galore passengers volition beryllium affected, and what volition they get successful return?

The airline, which serves 64 countries with a fleet of 259 aircraft, said the shutdown poses “a large risk” to some the institution and its employees. The disruption could interaction 130,000 passengers each day, including 25,000 Canadians, during the tallness of the summertime question season.

Air Canada has astir 430 regular flights betwixt Canada and the US, reaching much than 50 US airports. It besides provides home work to 50 Canadian airports and averages much than 500 regular flights.

The airlines said that passengers whose flights are cancelled volition beryllium notified and tin person a afloat refund online.

The hose has besides arranged with different Canadian and planetary carriers to connection alternate question options wherever possible. But it emphasised that immoderate formation alternatives whitethorn not beryllium feasible.

“Given different carriers are already precise afloat owed to the summertime question peak, securing specified capableness volition instrumentality clip and, successful galore cases, volition not beryllium instantly possible,” the hose explained.

How has the authorities responded?

Air Canada has said it has sought government-directed arbitration to resoluteness the situation.

Under Canada’s Labour Code, the government’s labour curate has the powerfulness to intervene and trigger the imposition of a woody done the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

That, successful turn, could unit formation attendants backmost to work. The national has asked Canada’s PM Mark Carney “to refrain from intervening”. It argued that authorities enactment would extremity the negotiations successful Air Canada’s favour.

“Why would immoderate leader fuss negotiating if they cognize the authorities is going to bail them retired erstwhile negotiations get tough?” the national wrote successful a missive posted to societal media.

Canada’s Labour Minister Patty Hajdu urged some sides to instrumentality to the bargaining table. “To beryllium clear: deals that are made astatine the bargaining array are the champion ones,” Hajdu said.

“I impulse some parties to enactment their differences aside, travel backmost to the bargaining array and get this done present for the galore travellers who are counting connected you,” she added.

Please spot my connection connected the latest improvement betwixt CUPE Flight Attendants astatine Air Canada and Air Canada: pic.twitter.com/hqQJ5JDYkN

— Patty Hajdu (@PattyHajdu) August 14, 2025