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Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, started suspending flights on Thursday morning ahead of a potential strike by its flight attendants.
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Hundreds of flights are expected to be cancelled by the end of the week if the flight attendants walk off their jobs as expected.
Air Canada and the flight attendants’ union have struggled to agree upon a deal that would increase compensation for the airline workers.
Here is what we know about the labour dispute and its potential consequences:
What is happening to Air Canada?
The Montreal-based airline has reached an impasse with the union representing more than 10,500 flight attendants in a dispute over compensation, despite eight months of negotiations. Both the company and the union have issued notices that disruptions to the airline’s services will begin on Saturday.
What services will be affected, and when?
Air Canada said it will reduce flights gradually over three days, starting with dozens of cancellations on Thursday and about 500 more by Friday evening. By 1am Toronto time (05:00 GMT) on Saturday, all flights will be halted.
Cargo services will also be affected, but Air Canada Express regional flights will operate as usual, as they rely on contracts with other airlines.
However, these partners handle only about 20 percent of Air Canada’s daily passengers. Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, a subsidiary that offers low-cost flights, carry roughly 130,000 passengers a day.
In response to the walkout anticipated for early Saturday, Air Canada has announced its own “lockout”, a strategy that prevents employees from coming into work in order to force them to the negotiating table.
The airline has warned that once the lockout begins, about 1:30am Toronto time (05:30 GMT), it may not be able to quickly restore flights.
Mark Nasr, the chief operations officer for Air Canada, explained that a restart, “under the best circumstances, will take a full week to complete”.
Why are flight attendants striking?
Wages are the main sticking point in the negotiations.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said its negotiators are unhappy with Air Canada’s proposed wage hikes and other compensation terms, and they have therefore turned down an offer to move the contract discussions into arbitration.
“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,” said Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, in a statement. “Air Canada’s response to our proposals makes one thing clear: they are not interested in resolving these critical issues.”
According to the union, the airline declined to raise flight attendant pay to meet industry standards, keep pace with inflation or match the federal minimum wage.
Since 2000, starting wages for flight attendants with Air Canada have risen only $3 per hour, while inflation has climbed 69 percent over the same period, the union explained.
We stand in solidarity with Air Canada flight attendants who are done with unpaid work and poverty wages!
📢 Fair pay. Dignity on the job. No more excuses!
Read more → https://t.co/YqVQEwTbpC#aircanadastrike— CUPE Ontario (@CUPEOntario) August 12, 2025
Air Canada, however, said the union turned down a proposal sent on Monday that included a 38-percent pay increase over four years, along with other benefits and protections.
But the union disputed the benefits of that deal. Instead, it explained that the flight attendants suffered a 9-percent cut in their last contract, meaning that an 8-percent increase over the first year of the new deal is inadequate to recoup the costs.
“It is, in effect, a pay cut,” CUPE said in its statement.
The union also argues that Air Canada does not currently offer “ground pay”, an industry term that describes compensation given for all the services provided before a plane’s doors close.
That work can include assistance given to travellers in the airport, baggage handling and helping travellers get settled in their seats as the plane prepares to push back from the airport gate.
“[For] any of our federally regulated safety checks, which we do an hour before boarding, we are not compensated. We are not compensated for boarding and deplaning,” Shanyn Elliott, the chair of the CUPE strike committee, told the news outlet Global National.
“It averages about 35 hours a month that we are at work not paid.”
The union said that it is seeking full pay for all hours worked, along with cost-of-living increases.
Ground pay, also called “boarding pay”, has been a key issue in negotiations at US airlines as well, since many carriers do not compensate flight attendants at their hourly rate during crucial periods before or after the flight.
How many passengers will be affected, and what will they get in return?
The airline, which serves 64 countries with a fleet of 259 aircraft, said the shutdown poses “a major risk” to both the company and its employees. The disruption could impact 130,000 passengers each day, including 25,000 Canadians, during the height of the summer travel season.
Air Canada has nearly 430 daily flights between Canada and the US, reaching more than 50 US airports. It also provides domestic service to 50 Canadian airports and averages more than 500 daily flights.
The airlines said that passengers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and can receive a full refund online.
The airline has also arranged with other Canadian and international carriers to offer alternative travel options where possible. But it emphasised that some flight alternatives may not be feasible.
“Given other carriers are already very full due to the summer travel peak, securing such capacity will take time and, in many cases, will not be immediately possible,” the airline explained.
How has the government responded?
Air Canada has said it has sought government-directed arbitration to resolve the situation.
Under Canada’s Labour Code, the government’s labour minister has the power to intervene and trigger the imposition of a deal through the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
That, in turn, could force flight attendants back to work. The union has asked Canada’s PM Mark Carney “to refrain from intervening”. It argued that government action would tip the negotiations in Air Canada’s favour.
“Why would any employer bother negotiating if they know the government is going to bail them out when negotiations get tough?” the union wrote in a letter posted to social media.
Canada’s Labour Minister Patty Hajdu urged both sides to return to the bargaining table. “To be clear: deals that are made at the bargaining table are the best ones,” Hajdu said.
“I urge both parties to put their differences aside, come back to the bargaining table and get this done now for the many travellers who are counting on you,” she added.
Please see my statement on the latest development between CUPE Flight Attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada: pic.twitter.com/hqQJ5JDYkN
— Patty Hajdu (@PattyHajdu) August 14, 2025
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