After his union and airline, a work for about 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, Stopage Karghe issued a 72-hour strike and lockout notices respectively.
Air Canada says it has started to cancel flights by Thursday and expects more disruption until the weekend if no deal can be signed before the work stagnation is effective.
Summer travelers are worried about what it means for their plans, what you should know here.
Has the strike started?
not yet. The Air Canada component of public employees of the Canadian Association has indicated its intention to go on strike by Saturday morning.
This notice was issued just before 1 pm on Wednesday. Half an hour later, Air Canada issued a notice that it is also planning to lock the flight attendant.
Such notice required 72 hours before any labor action. This means that the stoppage of work will officially start around 1 am on Saturday if both sides do not reach the eleventh hour deal.
Will all air Canada flights be canceled?
One function will affect the stagnation of Air Canada’s main operation and air Canada Roose.
Air Canada said that by Saturday, a systematic shutdown has started a gradual suspension of flights before the strike deadline.
The airline said the first flights would be canceled on Thursday, with a complete stagnation on Friday and till the weekend.
Flight attendants working for Jazz and Pal, which operate Air Canada Express flights, are not part of the talks. Flights under those banners will continue to operate normally.
What should I know about my upcoming flight?
Air Canada has said that it will inform customers through email and text messages if their flights have been canceled.
The affected customers will be eligible for a full correspondence, which can be obtained through an Air Canada website or mobile app.
The company also said that it has arranged with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide alternative travel options with other Canadian and foreign carriers. This includes passengers whose journey programs change the middle-jorni.
“Customers will be informed of alternative travel options that are identified for them,” said this.
“However, other carriers are already very full due to the extreme of summer travel, it will take time to secure such a capacity and in many cases, will not be possible immediately.”
For travelers that cannot be re -booked, Air Canada said they can change or postpone the journey without any extra cost.
The airline has warned that under the airline passenger protection rules of Canada, delays for the conditions outside the customer carrier or canceled flights, food, are not eligible for compensation for hotels, such as strikes or lockouts.
How did we get here?
Both sides have been in contract talks since the beginning of the year, but concluded a reconciliation process without reaching a deal.
On July 28, the Sangh’s strike mandate was closed. It wrapped on August 5, CUPE voted 99.7 percent in favor of the strike mandate with its members’ announcement.
At first, both sides seemed optimistic that they could avoid a work stagnation despite a strong strike mandate. He returned to the bargaining table last Friday.
But on Tuesday, Air Canada said it had reached “deadlock” in a conversation with the Sangh as the two sides were “far” on major issues. The Sangh told its members that the company “decided that they no longer wanted to talk.”
The Kapa said that it had also rejected a proposal to enter the binding arbitration process by Air Canada. This would have suspended the right to strike the Sangh’s strike, as well as Air Canada will also have the right to close the members of the Sangh.
While Air Canada argued that there was an example of going on that route, the couple said that it prefers to interact on a contract that its members can vote then.
Strike and lockout notices were issued a few hours after the talks broke.
Air Canada has stated that it is looking at its remaining options, including a request for the media -directed arbitration “to prevent a disruption or at least to remove this unbearable uncertainty for our customers.”
What is this dispute?
The Sangh has said that its main sticking points revolve around the fact that these flight attendants call the hostess “poverty wages” and unpaid labor when the aircraft are not in the air. It told the members that it has put up a proposal, seeking a cost of living growth every year, “with a catch-up” where we should be for 2025. ,
The Kapa said that the wages of entry-level Air Canada flight attendants have increased by 10 percent or $ 3 per hour in the last 25 years, which is far from inflation.
It is also stated that flight attendants are not paid “for an important part of their time”, such as when conducting security checks, to participate in medical and safety emergency situations, and help passengers with boarding and decline.
Air Canada said that its latest proposal includes total compensation 38 percent compensation in four years, including 25 percent in the first year. It said that the proposal also addressed the issue of ground pay, better pension and benefits, other promotion for the comfort and work-life balance of the crew.
The airline said that the proposal would give the best compensation to its flight attendant in Canada. But it said that the Sangh demanded excessive growth from those presented in the first presentations to a counter-offer. “
This report of Canadian Press was first published on August 14, 2025.
Sammy Hades, Canadian Press