Air Canada flight attendants began a 72-hour strike, grounding hundreds of flights and affecting over 130,000 passengers nationwide.
Air Canada flight attendants began a 72-hour strike, grounding hundreds of flights and affecting over 130,000 passengers nationwide.
Unionized flight attendants at Air Canada walked off the job early Saturday after pay negotiations with the country’s largest carrier stalled, marking the first strike by flight attendants since 1985, the union confirmed.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents more than 10,000 flight attendants, announced the 72-hour stoppage on social media just before 0100 ET (0500 GMT).
Air Canada said it had suspended all flights for its mainline and budget arm, Air Canada Rouge, while flights operated by regional carriers Air Canada Jazz and PAL Airlines continued.
“About 130,000 customers will be impacted each day that the strike continues,” the airline said in a statement, urging passengers not to go to airports unless they had confirmed tickets on other carriers.
The dispute centres on pay for flight attendants. Currently, attendants are paid only when the plane is moving. The union is demanding compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and while assisting passengers.
Air Canada had previously offered a 38% total compensation increase over four years, including a 25% raise in the first year, which the union deemed insufficient. The airline also proposed paying some currently unpaid work at only 50% of the hourly rate.
Montreal-based Air Canada had anticipated canceling 623 flights by Friday amid the busy summer travel season, affecting around 100,000 passengers. On Saturday, flight attendants picketed major Canadian airports, with passengers scrambling to secure new bookings.
Passenger Freddy Ramos, 24, at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, described multiple disruptions to his travel. “Probably 10 minutes prior to boarding, our gate got changed and then it was canceled and then it was delayed and then it was canceled again,” he said.
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge typically serve about 130,000 passengers daily and are the busiest foreign carrier operating to the US by scheduled flights.
While the strike has received support from passengers on social media, Canadian businesses, already affected by trade tensions with the United States, have urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration to end the dispute. Air Canada requested Prime Minister Mark Carney’s minority Liberal government to enforce arbitration, but CUPE opposes such a move.
Under the Canada Labour Code, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu may ask the Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration to protect the economy, though she has repeatedly encouraged both sides to resume negotiations.
Financial analysts from TD Cowen have warned that prolonging the dispute risks lost earnings outweighing any labour cost savings, urging the carrier to “extend an olive branch to end the impasse” and achieve labour peace.
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