Air Canada begins cancelling flights this morning as flight attendants strike looms on Saturday
The cancellation will affect 130,000 customers a day, including 25,000 Canadians who may risk being stranded abroad, and all flights will be paused by early Saturday, said Mark Nasr, executive vice president and COO of Air Canada, in a press conference.
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Toronto Sun
22 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
What to know if your Air Canada flight gets canceled
Published Aug 14, 2025 • 3 minute read Summer travelers are facing uncertainty as the clock winds down on a possible strike by Air Canada flight attendants, which the airline said would force it to cancel almost all of its scheduled flights as soon as Saturday. The Canadian carrier on Thursday began what it described as a 'phased wind down' of most operations that included multiple flight cancellations. Air Canada said it was suspending its schedule and trying to get passengers booked with other airlines to limit disruptions if members of its cabin crews walk off the job. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Both the union that represents about 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants and the airline say disagreements over key issues, including pay raises, have brought contract talks to a standstill. A complete shutdown of the country's largest airline threatens to impact about 130,000 people a day. Here's what to know about the rights of passengers and airline consumer protections: Impacted passengers will be notified Air Canada said it would reach out via email or text to let customers know if their flights are canceled. The cancellations on Thursday included some long-haul overseas flights. By the end of Friday, the airline expects to cancel 500 flights. Flight attendants are threatening to strike at 1 a.m. ET Saturday if they don't have a new contract by then. If the walkout happens, the airline said it would suspend all of its Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights, but not the regional Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. How long the airline's planes will be grounded remains to be seen. Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr said the decision to lock out the union members even if it meant halting flights would help facilitate an orderly restart, 'which under the best circumstances will take a full week to complete.' A complete grounding would affect 25,000 Canadians a day who traveled abroad and may become stranded. You have options if your flight is canceled Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full 'due to the summer travel peak.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Passengers with the flexibility to reschedule their travel plans can also rebook their flights for dates between Aug. 21 and Sept. 12 at no additional cost, Air Canada said. The airline says that under federal regulations, flight cancellations caused by a strike or lockout are considered outside the carrier's control, meaning customers are not eligible for compensation for food and lodging expenses incurred during the labor dispute. Most of the union voted to strike Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. By the end of July, the union put it to a vote, and 99.7% approved a strike. The union on Wednesday gave Air Canada a 72-hour strike notice. The airline responded with a so-called lockout notice, saying it would prevent the flight attendants from working on Saturday. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The union said it rejected a proposal from the airline to enter a binding arbitration process that would have prevented flight attendants from walking off the job, saying it prefers to negotiate a deal that its members can then vote on. Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's head of human resources, said the company was weighing all of its options, including asking for government intervention. Negotiations break down over pay Both the union and the airline say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air. The airline said its latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn't go far enough because of inflation. Vancouver-based flight attendant Henly Larden, who has worked for Air Canada since 2017, said the union also won't back down on its goal to get flight attendants paid for the time they're on the ground. Larden, 33, called it a 'very archaic expectation' to work for free during the boarding process. 'Just because it's a past practice doesn't mean here in 2025 that it's OK or it's right, and we want to change that going forward,' she said. Toronto & GTA Crime World Columnists Toronto Raptors
Winnipeg Free Press
22 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What to know if your Air Canada flight gets canceled
Summer travelers are facing uncertainty as the clock winds down on a possible strike by Air Canada flight attendants, which the airline said would force it to cancel almost all of its scheduled flights as soon as Saturday. The Canadian carrier on Thursday began what it described as a 'phased wind down' of most operations that included multiple flight cancellations. Air Canada said it was suspending its schedule and trying to get passengers booked with other airlines to limit disruptions if members of its cabin crews walk off the job. Both the union that represents about 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants and the airline say disagreements over key issues, including pay raises, have brought contract talks to a standstill. A complete shutdown of the country's largest airline threatens to impact about 130,000 people a day. Here's what to know about the rights of passengers and airline consumer protections: Impacted passengers will be notified Air Canada said it would reach out via email or text to let customers know if their flights are canceled. The cancellations on Thursday included some long-haul overseas flights. By the end of Friday, the airline expects to cancel 500 flights. Flight attendants are threatening to strike at 1 a.m. ET Saturday if they don't have a new contract by then. If the walkout happens, the airline said it would suspend all of its Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights, but not the regional Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines. How long the airline's planes will be grounded remains to be seen. Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr said the decision to lock out the union members even if it meant halting flights would help facilitate an orderly restart, 'which under the best circumstances will take a full week to complete.' A complete grounding would affect 25,000 Canadians a day who traveled abroad and may become stranded. You have options if your flight is canceled Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full 'due to the summer travel peak.' Passengers with the flexibility to reschedule their travel plans can also rebook their flights for dates between Aug. 21 and Sept. 12 at no additional cost, Air Canada said. The airline says that under federal regulations, flight cancellations caused by a strike or lockout are considered outside the carrier's control, meaning customers are not eligible for compensation for food and lodging expenses incurred during the labor dispute. Most of the union voted to strike Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. By the end of July, the union put it to a vote, and 99.7% approved a strike. The union on Wednesday gave Air Canada a 72-hour strike notice. The airline responded with a so-called lockout notice, saying it would prevent the flight attendants from working on Saturday. The union said it rejected a proposal from the airline to enter a binding arbitration process that would have prevented flight attendants from walking off the job, saying it prefers to negotiate a deal that its members can then vote on. Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's head of human resources, said the company was weighing all of its options, including asking for government intervention. Negotiations break down over pay Both the union and the airline say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air. The airline said its latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn't go far enough because of inflation. Vancouver-based flight attendant Henly Larden, who has worked for Air Canada since 2017, said the union also won't back down on its goal to get flight attendants paid for the time they're on the ground. Larden, 33, called it a 'very archaic expectation' to work for free during the boarding process. 'Just because it's a past practice doesn't mean here in 2025 that it's OK or it's right, and we want to change that going forward,' she said.
CTV News
22 minutes ago
- CTV News
Her dreams of a Paris trip may be on hold. How a potential Air Canada strike is affecting passengers
Emine Defne Erenben, right, says she and her mother, left, have been dreaming of going to Paris for 12 years. (Emine Defne Erenben) Emine Defne Erenben says she and her mother Lucia have been dreaming of visiting Paris together for 12 years, but the looming Air Canada strike has put their plans in jeopardy. 'Ever since she was a kid, she said that she would feel like she would have made it if she was eating a croissant in the Eiffel Tower, which is quite silly, but it's both of our hopes and dreams to travel to Paris together,' Erenben said in a video interview with on Thursday. 'The consequences of calling off this trip would be immense. The looming strike is really concerning.' Air Canada passengers shared their experiences with about how the looming strike Saturday is affecting their trips. The carrier started to cancel flights Thursday, with a possible full shutdown by the weekend if a last-minute deal with the union is not reached. The Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said it is trying to negotiate a new collective agreement with the airline after its 10-year contract for flight attendants expired March 31. Sticking points include unpaid work, such as during boarding, deplaning and medical emergencies on the ground and what the union called 'poverty' wages. With the Air Canada strike on the horizon, Erenben said she's worried she won't be able to make it to Paris, waiting anxiously to see if the strike will happen. When she graduated from university last year with a French immersion degree, she worked and saved up money, which helped pay for the costs of the trip. Emine Defne Erenben Emine Defne Erenben, second from right, celebrates graduation with her family. (Emine Defne Erenben) Erenben said the trip was like a gift to her mother Lucia, presently a caregiver for Erenben's 80-year-old father, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. A government worker in Ottawa, Erenben said Air Canada didn't cancel her Aug. 22 flight to Paris yet. Her plan was to meet her mother in Paris, who would be travelling from Turkey, where her parents vacation every summer. Air Canada would have to rebook her flight within 48 hours if it was cancelled, based on Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations, but she would lose thousands in bookings for hotels and trips. Even if Air Canada refunded her ticket, Erenben said if she bought a ticket with another airline, she would have to pay nearly double the cost she paid for her original Air Canada roundtrip flight, which she purchased a few months ago at about $1,000. She said she was having trouble finding alternative flights on her own as they appeared to be fully booked, so she may just have to wait to see if the strike happens Saturday. 'I booked early to get a good deal, and now I might be spending thousands more dollars just to get to Paris,' she said. Peixin Chen of Newmarket, Ont., said the strike has put her and her family of six 'in a desperate position.' She said has been having trouble sleeping since the union had announced a 72-hours strike notice earlier this week. Air Canada logo Seen through a barrier with an Air Canada logo on it, passengers check in for an international Air Canada flight at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, August 13, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck) (DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS) Air Canada sent her an email Thursday saying there was a 'high risk' her flight could be cancelled. She said her family, including her elderly parents, husband and two children had planned a big trip, including flying to Seattle on Aug. 17 for an Alaska cruise and visiting her uncle in San Francisco. For her elderly parents, the trip means a lot because it may be their last chance to see her father's brother in person. She said her other option was flying with another airline, but she had to max out her credit card to pay six refundable one-way tickets for a total of around $9,500 as a backup plan, which was significantly more than what she had initially paid for the Air Canada fares. She said Air Canada's customer service told her to keep an eye for the news and policy change. 'We saved up money for this trip for years,' Chen said in a video interview with 'My parents are getting older and older every year, and so is his brother and we don't know when (there) will be the next chance they're going to see each other if we cannot go this year.'
