Air Canada says it will cancel the majority of its roughly 700 daily flights on Friday as unionised flight attendants prepare to walk off the job over stalled contract talks, leaving an estimated 100,000 passengers scrambling to change travel plans.
By Thursday evening, Canada’s largest airline had already scrubbed several dozen flights. It expects around 500 to be grounded by Friday night as it begins winding down service ahead of the planned Saturday strike.
Mark Nasr, Air Canada’s chief operations officer, said the carrier’s vast global network — more than 250 aircraft serving 65-plus countries — cannot be switched on and off at will. “It’s simply not the kind of system that we can start or stop at the push of a button,” he told reporters in Toronto, warning that a full restart would take about a week.
A strike would hit at the height of Canada’s summer travel season, dealing a blow to the tourism sector and pressuring Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government, which the airline has asked to step in with binding arbitration.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and its low-cost arm Rouge, says talks broke down when the airline stopped responding to a recent proposal. “We believe the company wants the federal government to intervene and bail them out,” a CUPE spokesperson said. US carrier United Airlines, a code share partner of Air Canada, said it has issued a travel waiver to help customers manage their travel plans.
The dispute centers on pay for hours outside of actual flight time. “Most have traditionally paid flight attendants only when planes are in motion,” CUPE says, noting the unpaid tasks can add up to 35 hours a month. Air Canada says it has offered to pay for some of that time — but only at half the hourly rate.
The airline has also proposed a 38% increase in total compensation over four years, including a 25% raise in year one. The union has not disclosed its wage demand.
Canadian Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu urged both sides to return to bargaining but confirmed she will respond by noon Friday to Air Canada’s request for arbitration — a step CUPE opposes.
– Ends
With inputs from Associated Press
