Air Canada attendants strike: Carrier cancels flights ahead of work stoppage — Here’s what passengers can do

Air Canada executives go away after they’re interrupted by Air Canada flight attendants throughout a press convention as a potential strike looms, in Toronto, on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo)

Air Canada started canceling flights on Thursday, ahead of a potential work stoppage by flight attendants, who issued a 72-hour strike discover, probably impacting a whole lot of hundreds of vacationers.A whole shutdown of the nation’s largest airline threatens to have an effect on roughly 1.3 lakh folks each day, A. Mark Nasr, Chief Operations Officer for Air Canada, said the airline has begun a gradual suspension of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations. “All flights will be paused by Saturday early morning,” he stated. Nasr added that this method will assist facilitate an orderly restart “which under the best circumstances will take a full week to complete.” He talked about that the preliminary set of cancellations, involving a number of dozen flights, will impression long-haul abroad flights scheduled to depart Thursday evening. “By tomorrow evening we expect to have cancelled flights affecting over 1 lakh customers,” Nasr stated. “By the time we get to 1 am on Saturday morning we will be completely grounded.” Nasr stated the grounding will have an effect on 25,000 Canadians each day overseas who might grow to be stranded. They anticipate 500 flights to be cancelled by the top of Friday. He additional said that clients whose flights are cancelled shall be eligible for a full refund, and the airline has organized with different Canadian and overseas carriers to offer various journey choices “to the extent possible.”The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing attendants nationwide, issued a strike discover, main Air Canada to announce a 72-hour lockout efficient August 16. According to the union, 99.7 per cent of its members supported the strike, which can droop operations from Saturday till a labour settlement is reached. “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,” stated Wesley Lesosky, President of the Air Canada Component of CUPE. “Air Canada’s response to our proposals makes one thing clear: they are not interested in resolving these critical issues.” The airline said that eight months of negotiations and a proposal to go to arbitration failed to supply a deal.Some flight attendants on the airline’s information convention on Thursday held up indicators that learn “Unpaid work won’t fly” and “Poverty wages = UnCanadian.”Natasha Stea, who represents flight attendants in Montreal for the union, stated she thinks the airline is relying on the federal government to intervene. Stea stated they need a good and equitable contract.“There is still time. I’m sure if we sat down and talked we could actually get to an agreement,” she stated. On August 11, it proposed a 38 per cent pay improve over 4 years, together with further advantages and protections, however the union rejected the supply.What to do in case your Air Canada flight is cancelledJohn Gradek, who heads McGill University’s aviation administration program, stated that Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations require airways to promptly notify passengers of cancellations—through textual content, voicemail, or e-mail—and description their choices, CBC reported. Typically, Air Canada should cowl the price of rebooking passengers on one other airline in order that they arrive inside 48 hours of their authentic scheduled time. If that’s not potential, or the choice supplied doesn’t meet the passenger’s wants, the airline should situation a refund for the unused ticket worth. Expenses for lodges, meals, and different prices incurred whereas ready should even be reimbursed—passengers ought to preserve receipts and be ready to submit them. Canadian North passengers ought to test how their reserving was made: if the Air Canada leg was on a separate ticket, Air Canada is accountable for rebooking; if the journey was booked completely by Canadian North, that service should organize the alternative flight.