Air Canada service to resume Sunday following labour board ruling

Globe and Mail

a day ago

Air Canada said it will resume flights on Sunday after the airline and striking Air Canada flight attendants were told to return to their jobs by the federal government, which ordered the company and its workers into binding arbitrations.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board directed the company and the workers to resume airline service operations for all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights at 2 p.m. ET Sunday after a hearing that ran late into the night Saturday.
However, the Montreal-based airline said due to the complete shutdown of service early Saturday, which left crew out of position, its first flights won't take to the skies until Sunday evening, according to a statement from the company.
Air Canada warned further flight cancellations will occur over the next week as it resumes normal operations.
'Air Canada expects it will take several days before its operations return to normal. During this process, some flights will be canceled over the next seven to ten days until the schedule is stabilized,' the statement said.
Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu had ordered the parties to resume work and extend the terms of the existing collective agreement until a new one could be determined by an arbitrator.
Air Canada, union await decision from federal labour board on flight attendants' return to work
A lawyer for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents flight attendants, had asked the board to delay implementing the minister's order to give it time to seek an injunction from the federal court.
The board concluded it did not have authority to review or block the government's decision.
As of Saturday evening Air Canada had cancelled 623 flights, impacting more than 100,000 travellers.
The company said customers whose flights were cancelled, and who did not travel or accept a refund or credit, will be contacted with new itineraries.