Air Canada travelers brace for impact: What to know if your flight is canceled

San Francisco Chronicle​

11 hours ago

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 said it was suspending its schedule and trying to get passengers booked with other airlines to limit disruptions. Hundreds of flights have been canceled since Thursday as part of what the airline described as a 'phased wind down' of most operations. By Friday's end, it expected to call off 500 flights.
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 cancellations and your rights as a passenger:
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.
By late Friday afternoon, Air Canada had called off at least 128 domestic flights and 194 international flights that were scheduled to depart on Friday and Saturday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. On Thursday, 18 domestic flights and four international flights were canceled.
Flight attendants are threatening to strike at 1 a.m. EDT 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.
United Airlines, one of Air Canada's Star Alliance partners, said it would step in to help passengers who might be stranded at airports in cities across Canada: Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Québec City, Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary and Toronto.
On its travel alert page, United said it was waiving fees for eligible customers to rebook travel on a United flight departing through Aug. 27. United said the new flights must be between the same cities as the original tickets.
The Star Alliance is a global network of major airlines that offer coordinated schedules and other travel benefits.
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 Friday it rejected a proposal from the airline to enter a binding arbitration process, which would prevent flight attendants from walking off the job and allow a mediator to decide the terms of the new contract. The union says it prefers to negotiate directly with the airline on 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.