Air Canada suspends operations as flight attendants go on strike

FE Team | Published: August 16, 2025 22:40:07

TORONTO, Aug 16 (AP): Air Canada suspended all operations as more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike early Saturday after a deadline to reach a deal passed, leaving travelers around the world stranded and scrambling during the peak summer travel season. Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed the strike has started after no deal was reached, and the airline said shortly after that it would halt operations.
A bitter contract fight between Canada's largest airline and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants escalated Friday as the union turned down the airline's request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract.
Flight attendants walk off the job
Flight attendants walked off the job around 1 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports.
Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu met with both the airline and union on Friday night and urged them to work harder to them to reach a deal "once and for all."
"It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made. Canadians are counting on both parties to put forward their best efforts," Hajdu said in a statement posted on social media.
Pouliot, the spokesman for the union, earlier said the union had a meeting with Hajdu and representatives from Air Canada earlier Friday evening.
"CUPE has engaged with the mediator to relay our willingness to continue bargaining - despite the fact that Air Canada has not countered our last two offers since Tuesday," he said in a email. "We're here to bargain a deal, not to go on strike."
Travelers are in limbo
A complete shutdown will impact about 130,000 people a day, and some 25,000 Canadians a day may be stranded abroad. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day.
Montreal resident Alex Laroche, 21, and his girlfriend had been saving since Christmas for their European vacation. Now their $8,000 trip with nonrefundable lodging is on the line as they wait to hear from Air Canada about the fate of their Saturday night flight to Nice, France.
How long the airline's planes will be grounded remains to be seen, but Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr has said it could take up to a week to fully restart operations once a tentative deal is reached.