Uncertainty continues for Sask. travellers caught in Air Canada labour dispute

CBC

14 hours ago

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."