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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
As Air Canada flight attendants defy government order, here's all you need to know
Air Canada flight attendants said they will remain on strike, openly defying a government order to return to duty by Sunday afternoon, according to Reuters. The unprecedented walkout, the first by cabin crew since 1985, has already grounded around 700 flights a day and stranded more than 1,00,000 passengers worldwide. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents roughly 10,000 flight attendants, called the federal directive 'unconstitutional' and vowed to challenge it. 'Our members will remain on strike, and we invite Air Canada back to the table to negotiate a fair deal,' CUPE said in a statement. Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, had planned to resume flights by Sunday evening after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered operations to restart. The board acted on instructions from Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu, who invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to impose binding arbitration and force a return to work. CUPE declared on Sunday that members will stay on strike despite the CIRB ruling. The union argued that Ottawa's move strips workers of their right to collective bargaining. 'Rather than negotiating in good faith, Air Canada appears to have anticipated government intervention,' CUPE said. Air Canada suspended around 700 flights daily, leaving an estimated 1,00,000 passengers stranded across six continents, according to company figures cited by Reuters and AP. By Friday alone, more than 55,000 travellers had been affected. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said she acted to protect Canada's economy from lasting damage. She told reporters, according to Reuters: 'I have exercised my authorities under Section 107… to order the parties to resume and continue their operations and duties in order to secure industrial peace and protect the interests of Canada, Canadians and the economy.' The most contentious issue is compensation for time spent on the ground, including boarding, airport standby, and layovers. Currently, attendants are paid only when planes are moving. At rallies, workers carried placards reading 'Unpaid work won't fly' and 'Poverty wages = UnCanadian.' The airline had offered a 38 per cent increase in total compensation over four years, with added provisions for ground pay, pensions, and work-life balance. Chief Human Resources Officer Arielle Meloul-Wechsler described the proposal as generous and fair. The union, however, rejected it, insisting on a deal members could vote on. Air Canada had requested binding arbitration weeks earlier, but CUPE opposed it, arguing it lets the airline avoid meaningful talks. Binding arbitration would take pressure off the airline, CUPE said, calling instead for direct negotiations. The strike is the first walkout by Air Canada flight attendants since 1985. It followed months of deadlocked negotiations after the last contract expired on March 31. A lockout notice issued by the airline coincided with the union's strike notice, setting up a near-total shutdown. Air Canada warned that cancellations would continue for 7 to 10 days as operations stabilize, even if crews returned immediately. Chief Operations Officer Mark Nasr told AP the phased restart was necessary to avoid chaos. 'Even under the best circumstances,' he said, 'it would take a week.' The intervention has stirred political debate. Labour groups accuse the Liberal government of siding with corporations over workers. Air Canada had lobbied for arbitration, while CUPE pressed Ottawa not to interfere. The strike has become a test of Carney's handling of labour unrest amid fragile economic recovery. CUPE has vowed to challenge the government's directive in court, setting the stage for a legal showdown. Meanwhile, the CIRB has extended the expired collective agreement until a new deal is reached. Passengers remain caught in the crossfire, with Air Canada Express flights operated by regional partners Jazz and PAL Airlines being the only ones still running.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Air Canada weekend strike could halt all flights for a week — here's how travellers can rebook or claim full refunds
Air Canada is on the brink of a complete operational shutdown as over 10,000 flight attendants, represented by the Air Canada component of CUPE, prepare to strike at 1 a.m. ET on Saturday. The airline has begun cancelling flights and issued a lockout notice after the union served a 72-hour strike notice on Wednesday. Negotiations remain unresolved, and both sides are facing calls for government intervention. Flight cancellations begin ahead of strike deadline Air Canada has already cancelled around 500 flights originally scheduled for Friday, impacting more than 100,000 passengers. The initial wave of cancellations has affected several dozen long-haul overseas flights that were due to depart Thursday night. Chief Operations Officer Mark Nasr said the airline is implementing a phased shutdown of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge services to allow for an orderly restart, which could take up to a week. By Saturday morning, he confirmed, all flights will be grounded. A full shutdown would affect around 1,30,000 travellers daily, including an estimated 25,000 Canadians abroad. Aug. 14, 2025 operational wind down impact due to the impending CUPE strike:Flights cancelled: 34People impacted: 7,946Plus 19 add'l cancellations & 3,145 people due to unplanned crew book-offs Main dispute: Pay and unpaid work The union has pointed to two main issues: low wages referred to as 'poverty wages' and unpaid labour during periods when planes are not in the air. At a news conference, flight attendants carried signs stating 'unpaid work won't fly' and 'Poverty wages = Uncanadian.' Air Canada's head of human resources, Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, said the airline has offered a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions, over a four-year term. The union, however, has rejected entering into binding arbitration, saying it prefers to negotiate a deal members can vote on. We are seeing close to 300 Flight Attendants, twice as much as usual, not reporting for work tonight. This will result in additional cancellations. We regret the inconvenience to customers. Government and stakeholder responses Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu has urged both sides to reach an independent agreement and has encouraged the union to respond to the airline's request for arbitration. Union representative Natasha Stea, who speaks for Montreal-based flight attendants, has expressed concern that the airline is counting on the government to intervene. Meanwhile, Air Canada pilots who narrowly avoided a strike themselves in September 2024 are backing the flight attendants' demands for a fair contract. Passenger options and refunds Air Canada has advised customers not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking and their flight is still listed as operating. Travellers on cancelled flights are being offered full refunds or the option to change travel plans without a fee. The airline is also working with other Canadian and foreign carriers to arrange alternate travel for stranded passengers. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral follow Indiatimes Trending.
Montreal Gazette
5 days ago
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Union members interrupt Air Canada press conference
By Flight attendants crashed an Air Canada press conference in Toronto on Thursday to demonstrate their growing frustration over pay and working conditions. The flight attendants, who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), held signs saying 'Unpaid work won't fly,' and 'Poverty wages = UnCanadian.' The interruption pushed the visibly frustrated Air Canada representatives to abruptly cut the conference at the Sheraton Toronto Airport Hotel less than halfway through. 'Unfortunately, we'll have to interrupt this press conference here. I'm really sorry about the questions we have not been able to answer,' the mediator said. Dozens of long-haul international flights are already cancelled Thursday as Air Canada prepares for a possible strike this Saturday, Air Canada executive vice-president Mark Nasr told reporters. 'We are very disappointed by the actions of CUPE, which will potentially inconvenience hundreds of thousands of customers and Canadians,' said Air Canada executive vice-president Arielle Meloul-Wechsler. By Friday, 500 flights will be cancelled, affecting 130,000 travellers per day, of which 25,000 are Canadian. 'This is a situation that was, and still is, avoidable,' she added. Union members share the frustration, saying the company shows a lack of will to engage. 'They've preferred to ask the government directly for intervention,' said CUPE's Philippe Bonneville, who represents Air Canada flight attendants in Montreal. He noted the airline has already gone to Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu to invoke binding arbitration and force employees back to work before a strike has even happened. 'It's like the nuclear option,' he said. Air Canada has noted it 'believes recent government interventions in rail, port and airline labour disruptions in Canada provide a proven precedent.' Union members also hope to avoid a strike. Shanyn Elliott, a CUPE representative for Air Canada and former flight attendant, said she hopes an agreement can be worked out over the next day and a half, and a strike would be a last resort. '(Government intervention) would take away our right, as a membership, to vote on something that would be presented to us,' she said in a phone interview Thursday. 'The current government has been very clear that bargaining the best deals are done at the table, and that's something that we stand by as well.' Negotiations at an impasse Air Canada has been bargaining with the Air Canada Component of CUPE for more than eight months. The union served a 72-hour strike notice Wednesday, and Air Canada issued a lockout notice in response. The airline claims CUPE negotiators rejected an offer that included a 38 per cent compensation increase over four years (including eight per cent in the first year) and addressed unpaid time. But Bonneville says the 38 per cent figure factors in costs of the health, dental, and eye care benefit plan. 'It is not a 38 per cent pay increase,' he said Thursday. 'It's great to have greater health benefits, perhaps greater vacation, but that doesn't put more food on the table, and it doesn't help to pay your rent or your mortgage.' CUPE and Bonneville have said Air Canada offered a nine per cent wage increase, followed by a three per cent increase each year over three subsequent years. 'The nine per cent, based on our calculation, does not even recover the inflation that we've seen over the past five years since the pandemic,' Bonneville added. For Air Canada, CUPE's demands have been 'unsustainable' and have wasted precious negotiation time, Meloul-Wechsler said. 'They made the very last days of negotiations meaningless by making unsustainable offers. They refused our offer of arbitration to solve the impasse they had created, and they sent us a strike notice as soon as they were legally able to do so.'
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Attention Air Canada flyers! Flights to get affected as work stoppage by flight attendants may impact 130,000 passengers
Air Canada has confirmed it remains open to negotiations with its flight attendants, even as the airline prepares for potential work stoppages that could disrupt operations across the country. The Montreal-based carrier has reached a deadlock with the union representing more than 10,500 flight attendants over pay and working conditions, despite eight months of bargaining. Both the airline and the union have filed notices indicating a labour disruption could begin on Saturday. 'Abrupt work stoppages at airlines create chaos for travellers,' said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's head of human resources and public affairs, during a press briefing in Toronto on Thursday. 'We remain ready to continue discussions.' The conference was briefly interrupted by flight attendants protesting with placards reading 'Unpaid work won't fly,' claiming their compensation constitutes 'poverty wages.' Air Canada expects approximately 500 mainline and Air Canada Rouge flights to be cancelled by Friday evening. From 1 AM on Saturday, all flights under the airline's direct operation will be paused, affecting more than 130,000 passengers. Cargo operations will also see delays. However, regional flights operated by third-party contractors under Air Canada Express will continue as normal. The airline has stated that affected passengers will be offered full refunds and, where possible, alternative travel arrangements via competitor airlines. Seeking a resolution, Air Canada has requested the Canadian government to mandate binding arbitration, which could compel flight attendants back to work and deliver a final settlement. Meanwhile, the union, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), appealed to Prime Minister Mark Carney to respect workers' rights to freely negotiate their collective agreement. Canada's Labour Minister, Patty Hajdu, urged both sides to reach a compromise. 'Deals made at the bargaining table are the best ones,' she said in a social media statement. 'I encouraged both parties to put aside differences and return to negotiations for the sake of travellers.' Air Canada has proposed increasing total compensation, including benefits and bonuses, by 25 per cent in the first year and 38 per cent over four years, along with pay for certain duties performed on the ground. Currently, flight attendants are only remunerated while the aircraft is in motion, a practice common in the airline industry. Meloul-Wechsler noted that negotiations began with CUPE demanding pay increases exceeding 100 per cent. The union, however, contends that the airline's 38 per cent offer translates to just a 17.2 per cent rise over four years and falls short of inflation and industry standards, leaving flight attendants unpaid for significant hours of work. (With inputs from Bloomberg)
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Air Canada will start canceling flights today before it locks out flight attendants. Here's what we know
Canada's biggest airline is poised to start canceling several dozen flights Thursday ahead of a weekend lockout of flight attendants that threatens to throw travel plans for tens of thousands into chaos during the peak summer season. Air Canada said it will gradually suspend operations over three days, ending with 'a complete cessation of flying by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge' on Saturday, when the lockout is scheduled to begin. Air Canada opted to temporarily halt all flights after a flight attendants union earlier this week voted overwhelmingly to strike. The cancellations could have ripple effects across air travel, based on the size of Air Canada's footprint in the industry and its connections to the US and broader international travel. Air Canada warned that once the lockout begins, it may not offer flights for quite some time, even if the company quickly reaches a deal with the union: The airline said Thursday during a press conference that it would take a week to fully restart after suspension of operations. The briefing came to an end early, after members of the union stood silently, holding signs that read 'UnfAir Canada' and 'Poverty wages = UnCanadian.' Air Canada said it flies about 130,000 passengers every day who could be impacted by the lockout and resultant cancellations. That's including Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights; Air Canada Express flights operated by regional partners will not be affected. Among those passengers are, '25,000 Canadians that the airline flies home from abroad each day, who could be stranded,' Air Canada said in a statement Wednesday reacting to the planned strike, which it preempted with a lockout. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the local chapter for Air Canada flight attendants, gave a strike notice according to the airline, which triggered a 72-hour lockout notice by Air Canada effective Aug. 16. Nearly all members, 99.7% of the membership voted to strike, the union said. 'We are very disappointed by the actions of CUPE, which will potentially inconvenience hundreds of thousands of customers and Canadians,' said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, executive vice president, chief human resources officer and public affairs during a press conference Thursday. 'This is a situation that was and still is avoidable. We remain available to continue the negotiations.' Air Canada said it will try to accommodate passengers disrupted by rebooking them on competitor airlines. However, given the peak summer travel season, if not possible, the airline will offer either a full refund of a passenger's ticket and any associated Air Canada services or an option to rebook their travel for a later date without any change fee. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said Thursday morning that the airline had called off 15 domestic flights and no international flights yet, however, more cancellations had begun trickling in throughout the coming days. 'Air Canada is a very complex system,' said Mark Nasr, Air Canada's executive vice president and chief operations office during the Thursday press conference. 'It simply is not the kind of system we can start or stop at the push of a button.' Several dozen mostly long-haul international flight set to leave Thursday night will be part of the first wave of cancelations. By the end of the day Friday, the airline expects to cancel 500 flights, ahead of the full system stoppage on Saturday, Nasr said. Yes, the impact will be felt outside Canada, given the size and scope of the carrier's international operations. Air Canada has nearly 430 daily flights between Canada and the US at over 50 US airports. Air Canada said it will try to get impacted customers on flights with other carriers, which will eat into the number of available seats, which as the airline noted in its statement is already limited this time of year. 'Given other carriers are already very full due to the summer travel peak, securing such capacity will take time and, in many cases, will not be immediately possible,' the airline said. Air Canada is also a member of the Star Alliance, a group of 25 international airlines that coordinate with each other on connecting flights and services. United Airlines, Luftansa, Turkish Airlines and Air China are also alliance members. Besides looking for alternate bookings, Air Canada said customers with canceled flights will be eligible for a refund. The airline 'strongly recommends against' going to the airport unless customers have a confirmed booking and their flights are listed as operating on Air Canada's website and mobile app. Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants have been unable to reach a new contract agreement after eight months of negotiations, the airline said. The two sides remain far apart on pay, notably for the work flight attendants do when planes are not in the air that the union says they are not paid for. 'For the past nine months, we have put forward solid, data-driven proposals on wages and unpaid work, all rooted in fairness and industry standards,' said Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the flight attendants union nationally. Air Canada said the union rejected a proposal sent Monday that offered a 38% compensation increase over four years, among other benefits and protections. The union represents about 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, according to the Associated Press. It's unclear at this point how long the lockout could last. According to CNN affiliate CBC News, protests and other work stoppages have occurred over the years among varying employees, halting some operations. Patty Hajdu, Canadian minister of jobs and families called the lockout and strike vote 'disappointing' in a statement Thursday. 'I urge both parties to put their differences aside, come back to the bargaining table and get this done now for the many travelers who are counting on you,' Hajdu said.
