Travellers at Ottawa airport relieved that Air Canada strike is over
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CBC
3 minutes ago
- CBC
Air Canada, flight attendants reach tentative deal to end strike
Travellers are breathing a sigh of relief as Air Canada and the union representing flight attendants have reached a tentative agreement. However, it could take a week for operations to ramp up to normal levels. CBC's Michelle Ghoussoub reports on one dragon-boat team's attempts to make it to a national competition across the country.
CBC
31 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
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Air Canada customers stuck in limbo highlights competition, air passenger protection issues, experts say
Travellers are looking to get back on track with their itineraries after Air Canada reached an agreement with the union representing its flight attendants on Tuesday. But the fallout from the labour dispute, which scuttled summer travel for thousands of Canadians, highlights a glaring gap in Canada's air passenger protection system that is exacerbated by scarce competition. Nearly a week since Air Canada began cancelling flights ahead of the strike deadline, many are still struggling to get what they're owed in this labour disruption, including refunds and rebookings. 'Air Canada and its flight attendants have totally left us high and dry,' said Adam Rabiner of North Vancouver. Air Canada resumes flying after flight attendants' strike ends Air Canada's flight attendant strike disrupts travel for thousands of people, at home and abroad Mr. Rabiner said he was set to fly to Paraguay on an Air Canada flight on Thursday to chaperone his daughter while she played at the Junior Pan American Karate Championships. Instead, he spent $1,300 on non-refundable tickets with another airline after he wasn't able to reach Air Canada to find out whether his flight was still leaving as scheduled or get a refund or rebooking. 'Unless they do something to compensate us and communicate with us properly, I will refuse to book with them again,' he said. While Mr. Rabiner has a few other options – WestJet, Porter and Flair for domestic flights, for example – the selection is slim. And that's part of the reason why passengers are in this mess to begin with, consumer advocates say. Airlines work to add flights, make schedule adjustments in face of Air Canada labour dispute 'If we had more competition in Canada, the airlines would be inclined to treat their passengers better and their workers better,' said Tahira Dawood, staff lawyer at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. 'A lot of these problems would have not arose in the first place.' The rules meant to protect passengers' rights and their enforcement have also come under criticism. Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations require airlines to financially compensate passengers beyond rebookings or refunds when the disruption is within the airline's control and not related to safety. However, labour disruptions in Canada are considered outside the airline's control, which means passengers are owed little beyond the choice of a refund or rebooking. And even then, holding airlines to account has been difficult, Ms. Dawood said. When an airline fails to meet its obligations under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Rules, passengers have few avenues to turn to beyond an overburdened transportation regulator. (The Canadian Transportation Agency saw its backlog reach 87,000 complaints earlier this year.) Air Canada, the airline oligopoly and the abused consumer When it comes to flying with other carriers, alternatives in Canada are scarce. A June report from the Competition Bureau highlighted the issue and recommended opening up the domestic industry to foreign ownership, limiting mergers of carriers and removing operational barriers for smaller airports. Elsewhere, there are far stronger protections available to passengers in the event of labour disruptions. Strikes by an airline in both the European Union and Britain are considered within the airline's control, triggering compensation and duty of care obligations. 'In Europe and the U.K., the rule is simple,' said John Marzo, co-founder and chief executive officer of Airfairness, a travel tech and consumer protection company. 'If it's the airline's own employees on strike, you can claim compensation under EC261 or UK261.' Under EU Regulation 261, courts have consistently held that strikes by airline staff are not 'extraordinary circumstances,' said Baqa Rashdi, the managing director and senior lawyer at Law Booth in Mississauga, whose practice deals with criminal, family and civil litigation. His research into aviation law has been personal. Under the EU model, Air France paid him compensation quickly for a delay on a trip to Spain and openly acknowledged its mistake, he said. With Air Canada, 'I was essentially compensated with a credit toward a future flight.' Since labour relations by an airline in Europe are considered part of the carrier's ordinary business risks under its regulations, passengers are typically entitled to compensation when a flight is cancelled or delayed. In defying the back-to-work order, CUPE took a calculated risk that paid off The amount depends on flight distance and length of delay. But in general, the EU has put a clear price tag on passenger inconvenience: €250 (about $400) for short-haul, €400 for medium and €600 for long-haul flights, Mr. Rashidi said. The EU's framework has been effective in expanding consumer rights and creating predictable outcomes, reinforced by strong case law, he said. 'Canada's system has been criticized for carving out too many exceptions, strikes being one of the clearest examples.' While airlines often argue that giving out compensation at a high rate could drive up fares, Ms. Dawood referred to the Competition Bureau's July report that found higher Canadian fares are more closely tied to limited competition and concentrated ownership. The Competition Bureau's report also recommended removing exclusivity clauses on international flights that restrict competition and expanding Canadian Air Transport Security Authority services, which oversee specific elements of air safety, to smaller secondary airports. For example, the exclusivity clauses in ground leases at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport prohibit international flights at nearby secondary airports to limit competition. Removing these restrictions, among other barriers, would give passengers and workers more options, the report found. For now, passengers in Canada are left to suffer the effects of poor enforcement of air protection rights and an uncompetitive industry said Geoff White, executive director and general counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. 'This will take a legislative fix – this is fundamentally a failure of competition,' Mr. White said. 'When it comes to Canada's addiction to monopolies, it's a matter of political will.'
