Large crowds expected for Canada Day celebrations
CTV's Patricia Boal speaks with Melanie Brault, Canadian Heritage Director of Capital Celebrations, ahead of Canada Day.
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CBC
2 minutes ago
- CBC
Frustration still high for Air Canada passengers in Winnipeg, despite tentative agreement
A tentative agreement to halt the contract dispute between Air Canada and its flight attendants has not put an end to the anger and frustration some travellers in Winnipeg are feeling toward the airline, as their plans remain on hold. "We are stranded in a different country," Alice Kapinga said at Winnipeg's airport on Tuesday, as she was still trying to get a flight back to her home in Denmark. "Do they want us to sleep on the streets? Because we can't get any hotels. Everything is up in the air, and no one knows what to do." More than 10,000 Air Canada's flight attendants went on strike Saturday, after the airline and the union failed to reach a deal ahead of the deadline. The aviation analytics firm Cirium said that as of Monday afternoon, Air Canada had called off at least 1,219 domestic flights and 1,339 international flights since last Thursday, when the carrier began gradually suspending its operations ahead of the job action. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the flight attendants, said the two sides struck a deal early Tuesday morning after nine hours of talks with the assistance of the chief mediator appointed by the federal government. The tentative deal will be presented to the union's membership, which will have an opportunity to ratify it. But Air Canada has warned that it could take a few days to get its schedule back to normal, and that flights could be delayed for up to a week. Kapinga was supposed to fly out of Winnipeg on Monday, but said that flight was cancelled due to the labour dispute. She says she was told by Air Canada not to go to the airport to try to book a new flight, but she did anyway, because she hasn't been able to get any answers online or over the phone. "With the number they give on the website, what they did was they told us that all our agencies are booked right now, and then they just hang up," she said. "It's not even putting us in the line or anything. "We can wait two hours on the phone if that's what we need to do, but they just hang up." Winnipeg resident Stephanie Ens was also at the airport Tuesday trying to get answers, after her Saturday flight to New Brunswick, where she was planning to spend time with friends, was cancelled. "It's bonkers to me. If they wanted to avoid disruption, they should have hired more staff to answer phones, or improved their online booking options," Ens said. "If they want to hold off making a deal, they should at least provide decent customer service." Some of the tools she has been told are on the Air Canada website to help people reschedule or get information have been no help at all, she said. "So I've been waiting to try and get hold of someone at Air Canada, haven't been able to talk to anyone, so now I'm here trying to rebook the trip." One of the main issues for flight attendants was ground pay — compensation for work performed while planes are on the ground. Flight attendants historically haven't been paid for time spent loading and unloading passengers, or when flights are cancelled or delayed. CBC News has learned the tentative deal secures Air Canada flight attendants at least 60 minutes of ground pay for their time before each flight, at a rate of 50 per cent of a flight attendant's hourly rate, with that rate increasing five per cent each year. The airline is also proposing immediate pay increases of 12 per cent for flight attendants with five years or less of service with Air Canada, and eight per cent for those who have worked at the airline longer than that. Salaries would increase three per cent in the second year, 2.5 per cent in the third year and 2.75 per cent in the fourth year.
Globe and Mail
3 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Air Canada engines are revving up at strike's end. What does that mean for stranded fliers?
Sergio Roldan and his family are planning to head home to Ottawa on an Air Canada AC-T flight Sunday after a trip to visit relatives in Europe left them facing cancellations, hefty bills and uncertain schedules. With the Air Canada strike over and the airline gradually resuming operations, Mr. Roldan, his wife and two children – aged 4 and 6 – are in a period of what he describes as 'controlled uncertainty' in Edinburgh. While Mr. Roldan is encouraged that planes are returning to service, he said he still considers his flight scheduled for the weekend a gamble. 'Do we trust Air Canada? Do we take a leap of faith and book things ourselves? And that's going to be quite a prohibitive cost for us,' he said. The 38-year-old and his family are among hundreds of thousands of passengers in Canada and around the world whose travel plans have been cancelled, delayed or clouded in uncertainty since flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday. The airline and the Canadian Union of Public Employees announced a tentative agreement early Tuesday and Air Canada is gradually returning to normal service. The carrier said it could take more than a week to reboot its operations, including ushering its fleet out of storage largely in Toronto and Vancouver, and finding ways to staff its flights under the existing collective agreement. Mr. Roldan and his family have also been bounced back-and-forth between cancelled Air Canada and United Airlines flights. When Air Canada cancelled his flight, he said he was sent a link to book an alternative flight with United Airlines free of charge, though when he did that, he said he was billed $4,600. That United flight was subsequently cancelled, sending him back to Air Canada and his flight on Sunday, while wondering whether he's also on the hook for the cost of the United flight. In defying the back-to-work order, CUPE took a calculated risk that paid off As Mr. Roldan waits, others within Canada have been able to board flights home. About two dozen campers who were part of a larger group that had been tenting at a campground in Squamish, B.C., flew out from Vancouver on Tuesday afternoon. But most of the group, about 126 Ukrainian scouts and their chaperones, remained behind. The president of Plast Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada had penned a letter to Air Canada president and CEO Michael Rousseau on Saturday urging the airline to prioritize flights for the campers and their volunteers. That was accompanied by a 'tireless' e-mail campaign from parents, said Lada Darewych, executive director of Plast's Toronto branch. Ms. Darewych said that all of the children who have urgent reasons to return home, including one attending a funeral for a family member who died while the camper was away, were on two flights heading to Toronto. 'But, I'm not breathing until we've got everybody in a seat and on their way home,' Ms. Darewych said. She's hopeful the remaining campers can leave Wednesday. Other Canadians have chosen to fly with other airlines. Kelly Boileau, 35, is finally heading back to Vancouver with her husband and two sons, aged 2 and 6, after what was intended to be a week-long trip in Toronto turned into days of chaos. They were originally scheduled to fly back on Saturday, the first day of the strike. But Ms. Boileau realized by Wednesday last week that their plans would be disrupted. She decided that if cutting their vacation short meant they could get back home safely, then so be it. But when she called Air Canada to catch an earlier plane, she was told that wasn't an option. None of the flights were cancelled then. Opinion: Air Canada, the airline oligopoly and the abused consumer Come late Friday, however, the air carrier had changed its tune. 'Now, they wanted to give us a refund, even though every other flight was at an astronomically higher price,' Ms. Boileau said. 'And any option they were giving us for alternative flights were just these wild ideas of 42 hours of travelling with U.S. cities in between. I was definitely not going to make my little kids physically sick by going on that type of journey.' As the family stayed longer than expected with friends in Toronto, trying to find a flight for four, Ms. Boileau borrowed a computer to work remotely. Her husband, a restaurant manager, missed work. Eventually, Ms. Boileau connected with an Air Canada agent, who helped them with a direct flight – but with WestJet instead. Ms. Boileau said she has lost all confidence in Air Canada. 'We just don't know how to believe their operations are in order yet,' she said. 'I wish they had communicated better with us. Going forward, I'll probably be thinking twice before booking with them ever again.' Janet Naylor, 37, feels the same way. She runs a business with her husband, James Naylor, 45, and books their frequent work-related travel most often with Air Canada. When Mr. Naylor's trip last week from Calgary to Los Angeles was cancelled because of the strike, his wife found a solution with WestJet so he could make it to his meetings. 'It's good news that the strike is seemingly ending, but unfortunately, it's just too late for us. We were stuck paying for two tickets,' Ms. Naylor said Tuesday. She said she'd love to consider options beyond Air Canada next time. 'But we just don't have much choice when it comes to airlines in Canada, so what option do we have than booking with them again in the future?'
CBC
34 minutes ago
- CBC
Sask. travellers continue to feel effects of Air Canada cancellations despite tentative deal
After days of uncertainty and travel chaos, a tentative deal has now been reached between Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants. However, one Regina family stuck in St. John's, N.L. say their rescheduled flight is still days away.
