Air Canada recently released its plan to gradually resume flight operations. This decision follows closely after the airline made a deal with the union representing their 10,000 flight attendants, effective Tuesday evening. Travel impacts The strike, which started over the weekend and was expanded on Tuesday, primarily stranded or delayed travelers throughout… Since last Thursday, the airline has canceled over 2,500 flights. About 500,000 customers were thrown into an uproar, upending travel plans at peak of the busy summer season.
Air Transat’s Chief Executive Michael Rousseau underlined the complexity behind the restart of services. In good news, Gov. He said that relief operations would begin to slowly return. Barr said getting regular service back to normal may take seven to ten days.
“Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days,” Rousseau stated.
Negotiations between Air Canada and the union continued late Monday — the first good faith negotiating efforts since the start of the strike. The union leaders had already defied a government injunction to agree to binding arbitration as negotiations dragged on earlier in the weekend. Even more troubling was the seemingly permanent disruption to air travel.
All told, Air Canada canceled a minimum of 1,219 domestic flights and 1,339 international flights as of two weeks into the strike action. Policy measures from Toronto Pearson, the busiest airport in Canada. They committed to deploying additional staff to help passengers as service slowly comes back online.
This deal provides long-awaited relief to exploited flight attendants. This agreement brings members home full compensation for work performed while aircraft are in the shop. Labor leaders expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power.” The union further noted that when their rights were under siege, they did not fold and cower in fear, but rather they resisted and pushed back. They won a tentative agreement that will now go to members for ratification.
This strike disrupted nearly 130,000 travelers each day during the peak of one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. The situation drew attention to the Canadian government’s frequent invocation of laws that limit workers’ rights to strike and mandate arbitration.
Air Canada’s board functions as an independent administrative tribunal, responsible for interpreting and applying Canada’s labor laws. The resolution of this strike is an important new chapter in labor relations in the airline industry.
