Hundreds of Air Canada flight attendants picket YVR
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CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Travellers stuck at Edmonton airport amid Air Canada strike
Air Canada workers are seen striking at the Calgary International Airport on Aug. 17, 2025. (CTV News Calgary) While Air Canada flight attendants continue to strike through the weekend, some travellers are in limbo at the Edmonton International Airport waiting for their flights to get rebooked. The airline said flights would resume Sunday afternoon after a federal government return-to-work order was issued, but the Air Canada component of CUPE said it would not comply, leaving travellers stranded across the globe. Hiab Berhane was supposed to be on a flight Sunday to Kuwait. 'It's been very worrying because we're not sure whether we're going to fly today or have to go home,' said Berhane. 'I respect them trying to get better money if they're not being paid well, so I'm not really upset about it, but it is slightly frustrating that it's affecting our trip.' Chuck Schamel was headed to Toronto from Vancouver, but is stuck in Edmonton for two days because of the strike. He said it's been hectic trying to rebook his flight. 'It took hours to find an alternate airline because everybody in the world is trying to book with alternate airlines,' Schamel told CTV News Edmonton. 'I'm in favour of organized labour. I hate that they have to do it but I'm on board with it.' Matthew Sullivan is one of 1,200 frisbee athletes who were in Edmonton for the Canadian Ultimate Championships. He and his eight team members are in limbo as they seek flights to Windsor. 'There are a lot of players that are stuck in Edmonton right now trying to find a flight home,' said Sullivan. 'We're just waiting it out – find a hotel, find an Airbnb – until things resolve and Air Canada contacts us.' He said he hasn't heard from Air Canada at all. 'They're not sending messages whatsoever … more information would be great.' Air Canada said flights will resume Monday. But Brittany Thomas, the acting president of CUPE Local 4095 in Calgary, said they aren't backing down. 'We are not obligated to return our workers back to work,' said Thomas. 'At this point we have seen interference from the government and it is silencing our voice. We have a right to collective bargaining … we need a contract, not to be forced into arbitration. 'We don't want to have members who can't afford to live, can't afford to eat. They live in cars and are at the Food Bank. That is not okay.' With files from CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti and Calgary's Tyson Fedor.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Uncertainty continues for Sask. travellers caught in Air Canada labour dispute
Saskatchewan Air Canada passengers continued to face uncertainty and confusion on Sunday as more flights out of Regina and Saskatoon were cancelled. Air Canada announced it was suspending plans to restart operations across the country on Sunday night after the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) directed its flight attendants to defy the return-to-work order put in place by Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu on Saturday. The airline said it now plans to resume flight operations on Monday night. In Ontario on Saturday, passengers who had received notice that their flights were cancelled still showed up to Toronto Pearson International Airport in search of information from Air Canada about alternative options. Tanya Baron said while fighting back tears that her family was trying to get home to Saskatoon and airline staff had yet to provide them with rebooking options and gave her the runaround. "They send us here, they send us there. They tell us to call a number, where no human ever answers. I get hung up on. They tell us to check the website. There's just no flights and no way to get home," Baron said at Pearson Airport. 'Sympathy for both parties,' says passenger At the Regina International Airport, an Air Canada Jazz flight that operates under a different contract not affected by the strike did leave for Vancouver on Sunday afternoon. Greg Stoll, who was on the Vancouver flight, said he understood the concerns of the flight attendants but the country's largest airline can't be paralyzed by an extended strike. "I have sympathy for both parties," he said. "I can understand some of their needs, and ones of the union, but in the same token I understand the importance of having a national airline. "I'm OK with them going back to work as long as they continue talking and have a good contract at the end of the day." Becky Hoffart, whose sister was also on the Vancouver-bound flight, said her own experiences with unions as a nurse made her sympathetic to the flight attendants, and the politics of striking. "I support the union, but it's also a shame that it has to come to this and that they weren't able to resolve it before it did," she said. "They deserve a living wage and they deserve to be paid for their time. "If they are able to get a contract, it's worth it. If it's not, it's just super frustrating that the employer can't cough up some cash."
CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
'Lots of turbulence': Air Canada flyers describe cancellation, rebooking chaos amid strike
Social Sharing Travellers in Canada and abroad scrambled to secure flights on Sunday after striking Air Canada flight attendants defied a federal back-to-work order, abruptly halting the airline's plans to resume operations. Lila Rousseaux, who was scheduled to fly home with her family from Zurich to Toronto on Sunday, told CBC News she spent all of Saturday glued to her phone for news about whether her flight would be cancelled. At 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, she was informed it was. "I spent one and a half hours on the phone with the agent ... lots of turbulence," Rousseaux said. "There was a lot of inflexibility in terms of what can be done," she said, adding that her suggestions to take a train to Amsterdam to catch a plane or fly directly to the U.S. before driving across the border were rebuffed by the agent. WATCH | Lila Rousseaux describes 'turbulence' of rebooking flight: Want Air Canada to reroute your flight? Prepare for 'turbulence,' says this passenger 3 hours ago Air Canada says it plans to restart flights Monday evening after striking flight attendants defied the federal government's back-to-work order Sunday morning. For Lila Rousseaux, a longtime Air Canada customer, the weekend work stoppage has resulted in inflexibility from the airline as she and her family try to reroute their way home. Rousseaux said she finally booked an "awful" overnight flight to Atlanta, lamenting that she is no longer being seated with children. "The distress in my family is very acute," she said. Ottawa moved to intervene in the labour dispute on Saturday, less than 12 hours after the strike and lockout took effect, with federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu saying she was invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to send the two sides to binding arbitration and to order the airline and its flight attendants back to work in the meantime. The Montreal-based airline subsequently announced early Sunday that it planned to resume flights in the evening, but just hours later, the union representing more than 10,000 flight attendants said in a statement that members would remain on strike — scuttling those plans and prompting Air Canada to cancel some 240 flights. WATCH | Hundreds of flight attendants picket at Vancouver airport: Hundreds of Air Canada flight attendants picket in Vancouver 18 hours ago Hundreds of Air Canada flight attendants demonstrated outside Vancouver International Airport on Saturday. The strike prompted a warning for passengers to avoid the airport unless they have confirmed a booking on a different airline. Shaurya Kshatri reports. At Vancouver International Airport, passengers stood in long lines to get the latest updates on their delayed and cancelled flights, as workers outside demonstrated with signs reading, "Unpaid work won't fly." Chi Ehis told The Canadian Press she is having to pay an extra $2,000 to meet her family in Florida for a vacation after her flight was cancelled Sunday morning. Instead of flying straight from Vancouver, she is now taking a bus to Seattle before catching another, pricier flight. "I can't scream. I have to just figure out what to do," Ehis said, adding her plane ticket cost $1,500. WATCH | Tips for Air Canada passengers from travel influencer Moxey Munch: CBC's Mark Carcasole speaks with Moxey Munch on tips for Air Canada customers 3 hours ago CBC's Mark Carcasole speaks with Moxey Munch on tips for Air Canada customers In Toronto, Khalid Muhammadi told CBC News he flew in from Dubai en route to Edmonton but is now stuck at Pearson International Airport. "WestJet is asking eight grand; what am I supposed to do?" he said. Muhammadi voiced frustrations with the federal government for not resolving the labour dispute. "You knew a strike was coming ... do your job." Air Canada has said passengers whose flights are cancelled will be offered a full refund or the opportunity to change their travel plans without a fee. However, it said that under Canada's airline passenger protection regulations, customers are not eligible for compensation for expenses incurred during travel delays deemed outside the airline's control. "Customers in Canada are not eligible for compensation for delayed or cancelled flights, meals, hotels or other incidental expenses for situations outside the carrier's control, such as a labour disruption," the airline said.
