Air Canada and its flight attendants union have reached a settlement to end what the government declared to be an illegal strike. Terms have not been disclosed. Flights begin resuming this evening.
Air Canada says returning to full, regular service will take 7 to 10 days due to aircraft and crew being out of position.
The work stoppage affected about hundreds of thousands of passengers. Air Canada withdrew its third quarter and full-year guidance.
While cracking down on the union, the government sought to appear ‘balanced’ by announcing a probe into alleged unpaid work in the airline sector – which is 100% false. Higher pay for flight time while not paying ground time has long been union negotiated and favored by senior cabin crew who fly fewer, longer flights – and is a structure that benefits them at the expense of junior crew who spend relatively more time boarding (since they tend to work more, shorter flights).
What To Do Now if You’re Booked on Air Canada
- Check flight status before leaving home. Only travel to the airport if your flight shows as operating in the Air Canada app or website. Mainline and Rouge are resuming, but full normalization will take 7–10 days.
- Refunds: If you booked on/before August 15 for travel Aug 18 – 21 on Air Canada or Rouge, you can still request a refund for the unused portion of your ticket.
- Flexible changes: If you booked on or before August 17 for travel August 15 – 22, you can rebook for August 23 – September 30 without fees.
- Other airline options: Where seats exist, Air Canada says it will rebook customers on other carriers. Expect limited space since Air Canada is about half of the country’s capacity.
While we look forward to settlement details, cabin crew will certainly be earning more. Air Canada says they’d offered a 38% increase over four years, with a 25% first-year increase, prior to the strike. So presumably this offer was better.
I hope they will prioritize Canadians trying to return.
That was faster than I expected.
Hope the flight attendants got a better deal and are happy. While nothing is ever ‘perfect,’ even incremental improvements are worth the fight.
And yes, ideally the airline can minimize disruption to passengers. Get flyin’ again!
Wonder if United’s flight attendants will follow… *stirs the pot* *pokes the beehive*
I love how AC says that it will take them at least a week to get back to normal operations, but they will only provide refunds for flights for the next 2 days. Flight flexibility means nothing if you need to be somewhere this weekend.
Knowing you can’t operate a full, normal schedule for another 7-10 days and refusing refunds for the majority of it is something that the government should call illegal.
So I guess that 70% bet isn’t going to pay out.
We all knew a Canadian airline wouldn’t have the balls to stand up to a union. In typical Canadian fashion, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, taking a massive financial hit while gaining nothing. They could have rid themselves of the leach unskilled labor union once and for all.
Ok, back to things that matter (Canada not being one such thing).
The scum management never intended to bargain in good faith. Their only plan was to have the govt step in.
When that failed, they were caught with their incompetent pants down without a plan and caved in quickly
Massive victory for the union. Well done!
Now it will take 7 days to restore service lol. Incompetent management fools.
@Mantis — Cry harder.