Airline disruption update after hundreds of flights cancelled
A major airline has issued an update amid disruption to travellers caused by a pay dispute. Air Canada had to scrap plans to restart operations on Sunday after the union representing 10,000 flight attendants vowed to ignore a return-to-work directive.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board had ordered airline staff back to work by 2pm on Sunday following government intervention, with Air Canada initially planning to resume flights Sunday evening. Canada's biggest airline now says it will restart flights Monday evening, reports Bristol Live.
Air Canada stated that the union "illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a direction from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board". "Our members are not going back to work," Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) national president Mark Hancock declared earlier on Sunday outside Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
"We are saying no." The federal government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the union's refusal to return to work.
Mr Hancock claimed the "whole process has been unfair" and said the union would challenge what it branded an unconstitutional directive. "Air Canada has really refused to bargain with us and they refused to bargain with us because they knew this government would come in on their white horse and try and save the day," he said.
The nation's leading airline announced early Sunday that the first flights would recommence later in the day, but warned it could take several days for operations to return to normal. The airline also cautioned that some flights may be cancelled over the next week to ten days until the schedule stabilises.
Federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu intervened less than 12 hours after workers downed tools, ordering the 10,000 flight attendants back to work. She stated that now was not the time to gamble with the economy, particularly given the unprecedented tariffs imposed on Canada by the US.
Ms Hajdu referred the work stoppage to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The airline confirmed that the Canada Industrial Relations Board had extended the term of the existing collective agreement until a new one was determined by the arbitrator.
Air Canada shutdown affected hundreds of flights
The shutdown of Canada's largest airline early Saturday affected approximately 130,000 people daily. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day.
Aviation analytics provider Cirium reported that Air Canada cancelled a total of 494 flights on Sunday morning. This was on top of the hundreds of flights it had cancelled in the preceding days.
The bitter contract dispute escalated on Friday when the union rejected Air Canada's previous request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Flight attendants downed tools at around 1am Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday.
At the same time, Air Canada announced it would start barring flight attendants from airports. Ms Hajdu insisted that her Liberal government was not anti-union, stating it was obvious the two parties had reached a deadlock.
Travellers whose flights were affected would be entitled to claim a full refund through the airline's website or mobile app, Air Canada confirmed. The carrier also pledged to provide alternative travel arrangements through other Canadian and international airlines where feasible.
However, it cautioned that immediate rebooking could not be guaranteed as flights on other carriers were already at capacity "due to the summer travel peak". Air Canada and CUPE have been engaged in contract negotiations for approximately eight months, yet they have failed to secure a provisional agreement.
Both parties have acknowledged they remain significantly divided on wages and the unpaid duties flight attendants perform when aircraft are grounded.
The airline's most recent proposal featured a 38% rise in overall compensation, encompassing benefits and pensions, across four years, which it claimed "would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada".
However, the union rejected this, arguing the suggested 8% pay rise in the initial year was insufficient given inflation.
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Reuters
33 minutes ago
- Reuters
Air Canada CEO amazed by union's defiance of ruling to end strike
CHICAGO/MONTREAL, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Air Canada ( opens new tab CEO Mike Rousseau said on Monday the airline was "amazed" by the decision of its flight attendants' union to defy an order by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which has declared the union's strike unlawful. The Canadian Union of Public Employees has said the strike would continue until the carrier negotiates on wages and unpaid work. The union's move surprised investors and raised the stakes in a battle that has disrupted flights for hundreds of thousands of travelers during tourist season. In an interview with Reuters, Rousseau blamed the impasse on a gap between the airline's offer and its union's demands, but did not share any plans to break the deadlock. When asked if he was willing to sweeten the offer, Rousseau said while the company was "open to listen and have a conversation," he backed the company's offer for a 38% total compensation increase over four years. "That's a good offer from our perspective," Rousseau said. "And it addresses many of the issues that we talk about, if not all the issues." He urged the striking flight attendants to return to work, saying the strike was "illegal" and harming the airline's customers and brand. Earlier on Monday, the company suspended its third-quarter and full-year 2025 guidance, citing the labor disruption. "We're still amazed by the fact that CUPE is openly not following the law," Rousseau said. "And that is very disappointing from our perspective." Air Canada shares closed down 3%. The union has said Air Canada's offer only accounts for 17.2% in higher wages over four years, leaving its younger, entry-level workers struggling against inflation. An entry-level Air Canada flight attendant working full-time earns C$1,952 ($1,414.60) per month before taxes, which is 30% lower than that of a worker earning federal minimum wage, according to union data. Even with the airline's proposal, the attendant's earnings would remain below minimum wage, the union says. Rousseau, however, said the company's offer would "go a long way" in addressing those issues. Air Canada accounts for about 48% of capacity on domestic routes and is the only Canadian carrier with an extensive international network in 65 countries, Cirium data shows. The third day of a strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants has stranded passengers of the airline, which normally carries 130,000 people daily and is part of the global Star Alliance of airlines. Rousseau said the carrier wanted to resume service as soon as possible, but stressed it needed "the flight attendants to show up." Once cabin crews return to work, it would take the airline up to 10 days to fully restore operations, he added. He said the airline would take care of flight attendants who traveled abroad ahead of the strike and now face difficulties returning. "We'll have to find a way to repatriate them back to Canada in due course," Rousseau said. Analysts at TD Cowen have urged the company to extend an "olive branch" to the union to end the impasse, adding it was frustrating shareholders. Rousseau stressed he was the right person to lead the company through the labor dispute. "I do think that the current structure, the current team members, are the right ones to take this company to the next level," Rousseau said. ($1 = 1.3799 Canadian dollars)
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Flight attendant union leaders ‘ready to go to jail' as Air Canada strike outlawed
Union leaders representing 10,000 striking flight attendants have said they would be willing to go to jail rather than comply with an order to return to work, as Canada's federal government seeks to end a bitter contract dispute that has halted hundreds of summer flights and stranded travellers around the world. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said members would remain on the picket lines as part of a work stoppage that has halted Air Canada's national and international operations during its busiest season. 'There's no limit. We're going to stay strong. We're going to stay committed to making sure those workers can do the job they love doing and actually be able to afford a roof over their heads, to afford caring for their families,' said Mark Hancock. 'And if means folks like me going to jail, then so be it.' Hancock said members want a solution, 'but that solution has to be found at a bargaining table'. Flight attendants with Air Canada went on strike on Saturday after months of failed negotiations with Canada's flagship carrier over wages. Ahead of the work stoppage, Air Canada warned that a shutdown could affect 130,000 people a day. Less than 12 hours after the strike took effect, however, the country's jobs minister, Patty Hajdu, used her broad powers to impose binding arbitration on both parties – a move the union representing flight attendants decried as unconstitutional. 'The talks broke down,' Hajdu told reporters over the weekend. 'It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain and they will need help with the arbitrator.' Air Canada initially said it planned to resume flights on Sunday, but the union said it would defy the government's back-to-work order and accused the governing Liberal party of trampling on workers' rights and setting a 'terrible' precedent. 'The Liberals have talked out of both sides of their mouths. They said the best place for this is at the bargaining table. They refused to correct this historic injustice through legislation,' Wesley Lesosky, a senior member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said in a statement. 'Now, when we're at the bargaining table with an obstinate employer, the Liberals are violating our Charter rights to take job action and give Air Canada exactly what they want – hours and hours of unpaid labour from underpaid flight attendants, while the company pulls in sky-high profits and extraordinary executive compensation.' Following an emergency hearing on Sunday requested by Air Canada, the industrial relations board sided with the federal government and airline. 'The members of the union's bargaining unit are directed to resume the performance of their duties immediately and to refrain from engaging in unlawful strike activities,' according to a directive from the board. The union said it intends to challenge government-imposed binding arbitration in a federal court. If they defy the order from the labour board, union heads can be arrested and union members face the prospect of steep fines. The prime minister, Mark Carney, said it was 'disappointing' the stalled negotiations had not yielded a new contract. 'We recognize very much the critical role that flight attendants play in keeping Canadians and their families safe as they travel, comfortable as they travel,' Carney told reporters on Monday. 'And it's important that they're compensated equitably at all times, fairly at all times.' On Monday morning, Air Canada said it hoped to resume flights later in the day, but also suspended its financial guidance for the third quarter and its full year due to the shutdown. The strike is expected to cost the airline tens of millions of dollars in lost earnings each day.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Air Canada CEO sees big gap between airline offer and striking union's demand
MONTREAL, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Air Canada's CEO on Monday defended the airline's offer of a 38% boost in compensation to striking flight attendants but acknowledged there was a big gap compared to the union's demand and did not offer a path to return to negotiations. CEO Mike Rousseau's comments to Reuters followed the striking union's refusal of a federal labor board's order to return to work. That refusal has created a three-way standoff between the company, workers, and the government, and raised the stakes in the battle that has disrupted flights for hundreds of thousands of travelers during tourist season Rousseau said he was amazed the union was not following the law. Flight attendants want higher wages and to be paid for time spent boarding passengers and other duties on the ground. "At this point in time, the union's proposals are much higher than the 40%. And so we need to find a path to bridge that gap," he said, without suggesting what that process would be. "We're always open to listen and have a conversation," he said. A leader of the union on strike against Air Canada ( opens new tab said on Monday he would risk jail time rather than allow cabin crews to be forced back to work by a federal labor board. The Canadian Union of Public Employees said the strike would continue until the carrier negotiates on wages and unpaid work, even after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) declared the strike unlawful. "If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it. We're looking for a solution here," said Mark Hancock, CUPE national president, at a press conference after a deadline by the board to return to work expired with no union action to end the strike. The union has said Air Canada's offer only accounts for 17.2% higher wages over four years. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pleaded for a resolution. A domestic tourism boom has helped limit the economic damage from tariffs imposed by Canada's biggest trade partner, the United States, and Air Canada is the country's biggest carrier. "We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action," Carney told reporters in Ottawa. "I urge both parties to resolve this as quickly as possible." Hancock said the union has not heard from the federal jobs minister or Air Canada since Friday. The third day of a strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants has stranded passengers and led Air Canada to suspend its third-quarter and full-year 2025 guidance, sending shares down nearly 3%. The airline has earned lower profit due to fewer bookings to the United States. The carrier normally carries 130,000 people daily and is part of the global Star Alliance of airlines. Michael Lynk, professor emeritus of law at Western University in London, Ontario, said there are provisions in the Canada Labour Code that give the board and the court the right to issue fines and sanctions against the union and against individual workers. Crew are mostly paid when planes are moving, sparking demands by unions in the U.S. and Canada to change the model, and generating some vocal support from passengers on social media. While passengers have largely expressed support for the flight attendants, some are growing weary of the uncertainty. Danna Wu, 35, said she and her husband will have no choice but to drive from Winnipeg to Vancouver if the strike persists for a visa appointment. Although she believes Air Canada should pay its attendants more, the University of Manitoba master's student added, 'It's not responsible to strike and leave thousands of passengers in such chaos.' Air Canada's demands on unpaid work follow gains recently won by flight attendants in the United States. New labor agreements at American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab and Alaska Airlines (ALK.N), opens new tab legally require carriers to start the clock for paying flight attendants when passengers are boarding. The government's options to force an end to the strike include asking courts to enforce the order to return to work and seeking an expedited hearing. The minority government could also try to pass legislation that would need the support of political rivals and approval in both houses of parliament, which are on break until September 15, but has so far been cautious. "The government will be very reticent to be too heavy-handed because in Canada, the Supreme Court has ruled that governments have to be very careful when they take away the right to strike, even for public sector workers that may be deemed essential," said Dionne Pohler, a professor of dispute resolution at Cornell University. The previous Canadian government intervened last year to head off rail and dock strikes that threatened to cripple the economy, but it is highly unusual for a union to defy a CIRB order. 'If you're going to fine us or you're going to try and take us on financially, then you can take us to court, and we can see where that plays out,' said Hancock.
