Air Canada starts canceling flights ahead of work stoppage that could impact hundreds of thousands
A complete shutdown of the country's largest airline threatens to impact about 130,000 people a day.
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Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air Canada Suspends ‘All Operations,' Impacting Over 130,000 Customers, amid Ongoing Flight Attendant Strike
The strike involves roughly 10,000 flight attendants NEED TO KNOW Air Canada has "suspended all operations" of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights as of Saturday, Aug. 16, due to roughly 10,000 flight attendants going on strike More than 130,000 customers may now be impacted, the airline said "We appreciate your patience while we work to get you on your way," Air Canada said in a statement Numerous Air Canada flights have been canceled after thousands of flight attendants went on strike. The airline said in a news release that it has 'suspended all operations' for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights as of Saturday, Aug. 16, due to the strike. The release added, however, that Air Canada Express flights will not be affected, as they are 'operated by third-party airlines.' The strike involves roughly 10,000 flight attendants who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Air Canada said the union served the company a 72-hour strike notice on Aug. 13. More than 130,000 customers may now be impacted, per the airline. In response to the strike, Air Canada said in its release that the airline has 'been gradually reducing' its normal schedule of 700 daily flights and is now working to negotiate new terms with CUPE to 'avoid further labor disruption.' In a post on X at around 8 p.m. on Aug. 15, Air Canada said it had cancelled 623 flights, affecting a little more than 100,000 passengers. During bargaining, the airline reportedly offered flight attendants a 38% increase in total compensation over four years, and a 25% raise in the first year, according to the BBC. However, CUPE said the offer was "below inflation, below market value [and] below minimum wage," per the outlet. CUPE later claimed in a statement shared on its website on Aug. 15 that Air Canada had withdrawn from the 'bargaining table' and had 'not returned." The union also alleged that the airline met with Canadian Labor Minister Patty Hajdu to "interfere with the bargaining process.' Hajdu said on Aug. 15, per Reuters, that she met with Air Canada and CUPE and urged both sides to continue negotiations in order to reach a deal and avert a then-potential strike. Now, because of the strike, Air Canada has told customers 'not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed ticket on an airline other than Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge.' The airline added in a separate memo that travelers who are booked for Air Canada flights between Aug. 15 to Aug. 19 can change their flight for free, if they purchased a ticket or redeemed their points before Aug. 14. Air Canada added that those who booked a 'non-refundable' fare can cancel their itinerary and receive credit to use for future bookings. 'We appreciate your patience while we work to get you on your way,' the airline said in a statement. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Weary travellers at YYC despite fed intervention in Air Canada labour fight
It was a subdued Saturday morning by the Air Canada counters at the Calgary International Airport. Travellers stood wearily in lines by the counter, baggage in tow while staff ran back-and-forth between the counters with passports in hand. Some had been at the airport for hours, waiting to hear back on cancelled flights and rebooking alternatives. 'We've been here since seven this morning,' Clem Lacoume said. She had travelled to Canada from France with a friend, Emma Sambras, two weeks ago to explore British Columbia and had a flight scheduled home on Saturday. At 12:58 a.m. ET on Saturday, 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job on strike, after the airline and the union representing them failed to reach a deal ahead of the deadline. The airline estimated 130,000 customers would be affected for each day of the strike. Patty Hajdu, the federal jobs minister, directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Saturday morning to order flight attendants back to work, impose final and binding arbitration and extend the terms of the parties' existing contract until a new one one is determined. However, with several flights already cancelled and travellers urgently attempting to rebook alternatives, it will still take time until flights are back to scheduled routine, according to Adam Danyleko, CEO of Elite Travel Management, a Calgary-based travel agency. 'It takes a while for the routes to get back online,' he said. 'They've already cancelled them so they've got to do a lot of work with the actual individual airport locations to bring the routes back online and to bring the flight attendants back online.' On Saturday morning, more than 100 flight attendants banded at the far end of the airport building, near the departure doors leading to the counters for the U.S. airlines. 'Our members are ready for this,' Brittany Thomas, local vice-president for CUPE Local 495 in Calgary. 'They didn't want it to get to this but they are here because they have to be here. 'There's a lot of community,' she added. 'We have a very strong engagement because we know each other, we're friends, we're tight-knit.' The days leading up to the strike held a lot of 'anxiety and stress,' she said. The last time the airline's flight attendants went on strike was in 1985. Daylen Mitansky, local vice-president of CUPE Local 495, said when he heard the strike was to be official, he cried. 'It's really heartbreaking,' he said. 'We're all sad about the passengers being stranded and it's really hard on a lot of us. 'We never thought it would get like this. We never thought we would be walking the line.' Employees feel a combination of 'hurt and confusion' towards a company which expressed intentions to lock them out 30 minutes after the strike went into effect on Saturday morning. 'And also just disgruntled because of the lies that they've been saying of our union at the bargaining table,' Mitansky said. 'They're not ignoring the company. They want this dealt with.' Key issues at the negotiating table include wages and unpaid work. The airline said it offered a 38 per cent increase in total compensation over four years with a 25 per cent raise in the first year. However, the union rejected the offer, describing it as below inflation, below market value and below minimum wage, and would still leave flight attendants unpaid for hours of work when the plane isn't moving. According to Thomas, the starting wage at the company is $1,952 per month. 'They have had record profits,' she said. 'There is no reason why they cannot make a change.' Karen Smith, who owns Boulevard Travel, said her agents had been working overtime in the days leading up to the strike to rebook clients. 'They are totally exhausted,' she said. 'And we don't get reimbursed for our time.' The challenges have been finding seats on airlines to rebook clients and then, having to do so at significantly higher prices. 'I had a team of under-18 years travelling home,' she said. 'They paid $500 for a flight home and they're young kids, they have to get home. 'We've had to charter a flight, which we don't make a penny on, because we don't want to make money on people paying for this. They're now paying $2,200 to get home.' 'It is such a bad scenario,' she said. Danyleko said his team has faced challenges with rebooking for business clients who rely on last-minute flights to be able to travel. 'Last-minute travel is already incredibly expensive,' he said. 'And now the options aren't available.' It adds more fluctuation to an already volatile oligopoly in Canada, wherein labour disruptions in either WestJet, Air Canada or Porter — the three reigning airlines in Canada's domestic industry — can leave the economy shaken. 'There are just so many impacts, whether it be weather, strikes or other factors,' Danyleko said. And it can 'make people more hesitant to travel,' Smith said, 'when you don't know what these airlines are going to do.' 'We got people going on non-refundable cruises and they're not going to get there. If you're over in Barcelona and you want to come home and there's nothing available for four days, you're going to pay triple the price you already paid for, plus multiple nights accommodation, plus missing work if you're still working,' Smith said. 'It's a disaster.' At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Emma and Josef Gorospe sat by an Air Canada counter with a friend whom they were visiting in Calgary. The night before, they had received boarding passes for their Saturday flight, leading them to believe their flight was scheduled and confirmed to go. However, the morning they arrived to the airport, they received news their flight was cancelled. 'It's frustrating,' Emma Grosope said. Their only option was to apply for an ESTA visa and use the visa to book a connecting flight back to the U.K. via the U.S. An Air Canada staff member had been assisting them, Grosope said, but they remained uncertain on their next steps. Missing their flight also means missing on commitments scheduled back home — a medication refill, doctor's appointments and others. Kate Peters and Fabien Naneix said they were prepared when they received the news about their flight on Friday. 'We got ourselves organized,' Naneix said, by extending their stay at the airport hotel and calling up their respective workplaces to let them know about the delay. 'We can work from home so we are quite flexible,' Peters said. They were able to get another flight rebooked for Tuesday, but that means more costs incurred on a longer hotel stay. 'We have travel insurance,' Peters added. Lacoume and Sambras, waiting in line, were tired. It had been hours of waiting to be rebooked on a new flight with a staff member attempting to find seats available on already booked airlines. 'I told my friend I think I lost 10 years of my life in the stress over the past two days,' she said. She added she was supposed to land in Paris by Sunday and board a train hours later to meet her parents and family in the south of France. 'It doesn't just impact us, but also our families and friends,' she said. 'We feel useless and just very powerless,' Sambras said. Related Air Canada strike disrupting travel plans Federal government orders Air Canada flight attendants back to work, imposes binding arbitration By the end of the fifth hour spent waiting in the airport, the two were finally booked on flights on Monday. Their new schedules would see them connect through Reykjavik and land in Paris by Tuesday. 'At least it's something,' Lacoume said. 'We now have a way to go home.' ddesai@
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The United Steelworkers union condemns federal government interference in flight attendants' bargaining rights
TORONTO, Aug. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United Steelworkers union (USW) National Director, Marty Warren, issued the following statement on the federal government's decision to intervene in the labour dispute between Air Canada and its flight attendants: 'By stepping in to shut down these negotiations and force workers back to work, the federal government is denying flight attendants their constitutional right to bargain collectively and, if necessary, to take strike action. This is a serious attack on workers' rights and sets a dangerous precedent that should worry all workers in Canada. We've seen this movie before – WestJet mechanics, CN Rail and CPKC workers, and Canada Post workers – and it always ends the same way: delayed settlements, employers emboldened to hold out for concessions and worse outcomes for workers. The best deals are reached at the bargaining table, not through political interference that weakens the voices of workers. Flight attendants have been negotiating in good faith to address serious concerns about wages, scheduling, unpaid time and working conditions. They deserve the chance to reach a fair and negotiated settlement, free from government actions that always tip the scales in favour of the employer. We stand in solidarity with CUPE flight attendants in their fight for respect, equitable labour conditions, and a fair collective agreement. Ottawa's choice to undermine the bargaining process is an unacceptable assault on free collective bargaining rights. This decision not only weakens these workers, but also those who depend on fair negotiations to protect their jobs and working conditions.' About the United Steelworkers union The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union's strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions. For more information, please contact:Denis St. Pierre, USW Communications Department - dstpierre@ / 647-522-1630Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
