Canada has been plunged into travel chaos.
Air Canada flight attendants went on strike shortly after midnight on 16AUG after a deadline passed without an agreement with airline management. Air Canada said it issued a lockout order at 1:30 am EDT.
More than 10,000 Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants are now off the job and the airline has suspended operations for both Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. Air Canada Express is not affected.
Air Canada says stopping operations will impact 130,000 passengers a day. This includes "the 25,000 Canadians that the airline flies home from abroad each day, who could be stranded.”
The two sides have engaged in bitter negotiations for weeks, but have been unable to find common ground. Air Canada management and the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees engaged in last-ditch talks on the night of 15AUG but were unable to reach a deal.
“Negotiations between CUPE and Air Canada have ended in impasse,” the union said in a statement issued early on 16AUG. “We are heartbroken for our passengers.
"We do not want to go on strike, and we do not want to be locked out, but it is clear that Air Canada has no incentive to bargain.”
"At this time, Air Canada remains engaged and committed to negotiate a renewal to its collective agreement with CUPE," the airline said in a statement issued around 8:30 am on 16AUG.
The pressure now shifts to the federal government, which could be tempted to step in and halt the strike before it damages the Canadian economy.
Federal Jobs and People Minister Patty Hajdu this week asked CUPE to consider Air Canada management's request for binding arbitration. The union declined the offer on 15AUG, setting stage for the strike.
Hajdu repeatedly urged the two sides to hammer out a deal, and met with both parties late on 15AUG, but was unable to help broker a deal. She has posted statements daily on her X/Twitter account but hadn't made any comments on the platform by 8:30 am on 16AUG.
Air Canada said it has been "gradually reducing its schedule of approximately 700 daily flights to manage the labour disruption created by CUPE's strike notice, while working diligently to reach a new, negotiated collective agreement and avoid further labour disruption. Approximately 130,000 customers will be impacted each day that the strike continues."
"Air Canada is strongly advising affected customers not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed ticket on an airline other than Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge. Air Canada will notify customers with imminent travel of additional cancelled flights and their options. For those customers due to travel soon whose flights are not yet cancelled, Air Canada has put in place a goodwill policy to allow them to rebook their travel or obtain a credit for future travel. For more information customers should visit aircanada.com/action.
"Air Canada deeply regrets the effect the strike is having on customers."
Union protests complained of unpaid work hours before and after flights and low starting wages.
Air Canada said it offered a 38% pay hike over four years and a series of other improvements, including some ground pay changes, making Air Canada flight attendants the highest paid in the country.
With a damaging job action now underway, the focus turns to the federal government to intervene. Ottawa requested the union submit to binding arbitration, but CUPE rejected that request on 15AUG.
A strike is nothing short of calamitous for anyone with an Air Canada ticket not to mention advisors scrambling to rebook clients. Former Air Canada executive and McGill University lecturer John Gradek recently said a strike would cost Air Canada $50 to $60 million a day in lost revenue.
Stay tuned to Open Jaw for more news on this critical story.
