Air Canada flight attendants officially begin strike

By CTVNews.ca Staff
Updated: August 16, 2025 

CTV National News: Battle over wages continues as strike officially begins

Air Canada flight attendants have official begun their strike after failing to reach a deal with the airline, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced Saturday morning.

Air Canada said the impacts leading up to the strike have resulted in 294 cancelled flights, as of 12 p.m. ET Friday.

The airline said it will cancel around 500 flights leading up to the strike deadline in anticipation of the work stoppage.

Air Canada says the shutdown of the country’s largest airline impacts approximately 130,000 people each day.

All Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights have been suspended, the airline said. However, the regional Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz Aviation and PAL airlines are not impacted.


“If your flight is cancelled, don’t go to the airport without a confirmed new booking,” Air Canada told customers on Friday.

The airline said it will get in touch with the customers by email or text if their flights were cancelled.

Passengers whose flights are impacted will be able to request a full refund on Air Canada’s website or the mobile app, the airline said.

On Aug. 11, the Air Canada Component of CUPE submitted a revised wage proposal to the airline, following around eight months of negotiations with the airline.

According to the union, entry-level Air Canada flight attendants’ wages have only increased by 10 per cent ($3 per hour) in the past 25 years.

Additionally, the union says workers “are not paid for a significant portion of their time on the job, including while they perform critical safety checks, attend to onboard medical and safety emergencies, and assist passengers with boarding and deplaning,” according to a press release on Aug. 5.

On Wednesday, the union gave the airline a 72-hour strike notice, in which Air Canada responded with a lockout notice that said it would prevent the flight attendants from being able to work Saturday.

Meanwhile, the union said the proposal from Air Canada was rejected because they preferred to negotiate and arrive at a deal the members could vote on.

According to Air Canada, the latest offer contained a 38 per cent increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years. But the union said that the proposal did not consider inflation in the proposed 8 per cent increase in the first year.

Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu told The Canadian Press Friday that she is urging both the airline and the union to continue negotiating, saying it’s “critical” the two parties “return to the table” and hammer out a deal.

Earlier, in July the union put it to vote and 99.7 per cent of the members had backed the motion to strike.

Air Canada, flight attendant union must return to the table: jobs minister

By The Canadian Press
August 15, 2025 

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Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu is urging Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants to get back to the negotiating table, suggesting she’s not ready to intervene in a dispute that has upended hundreds of flights.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Hajdu said it’s “critical” that the two parties “return to the table” to forge a deal on their own.

The minister said the union has indicated many of its demands have been met, suggesting there is a path forward to a deal.

“The union said themselves that many of their demands have been met. However, right now, they’re not at the table,” she said.

“It’s very important that both the union and the corporation return to the table, roll up their sleeves and finish this deal.”

Hajdu’s comments came just hours before a deadline of 1 a.m. Saturday, when some 10,000 flight attendants were in a position to walk off the job without an agreement in place.

The country’s largest airline and CUPE have blamed each other for their bargaining impasse, with the union rejecting a request for binding arbitration and the company imposing a lockout.

The Air Canada component of CUPE said it is eager to avoid a work stoppage by sitting down to negotiate, while the airline has requested Hajdu step in and direct the parties to enter binding arbitration.

Business groups have meanwhile warned of the damage a protracted dispute will do to the economy and have called on the government to consider all its options for ending the dispute -- including imposing binding arbitration.

Hajdu acknowledged the economy is “stressed” and said this is a time for “Canadians to pull together -- and I expect corporations and unions to do that, too.”

She also said it’s not up to her to “resolve the issues in the collective agreement,” but the minister did not rule anything out, either.

“It’s very important that we stay focused on the two parties. They have the primary responsibility to solve this. This is a corporation and a union who have all the tools they need, as well as tools from the federal mediation service, to get this deal done,” Hajdu said.

“Canadians are watching with a high degree of empathy ... and a high degree of anxiety, and I think the country is depending on these parties to do their work and to be diligent about turning over every stone.”

Air Canada warned it is cancelling around 500 flights in anticipation of the looming work stoppage, with a full halt expected to start Saturday.

The airline has said that customers whose flights are cancelled will be offered a full refund.

Air Canada said it is also allowing customers to change their travel plans without a fee if they choose to do so.


By Kyle Duggan.

This is a breaking update. Below is The Canadian Press’ copy from earlier...
Air Canada strike deadline: 500 flights cancelled, flight attendants poised to walk off the job

More than 10,000 flight attendants are poised to walk off the job around 1 a.m. ET on Saturday, followed by a company-imposed lockout if the two sides can’t reach an eleventh-hour deal.

Air Canada warned it is cancelling around 500 flights previously scheduled to take off today in anticipation of the work stoppage, with a full halt looming Saturday.

It said it would notify customers of cancellations through email and text message, adding it recommends against going to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking and their flight still shows as operating.

Customers whose flights are cancelled will be offered a full refund. Air Canada said it is also allowing customers to change their travel plans without a fee if they choose to do so.



The Air Canada component of CUPE said it is eager to avoid a work stoppage by sitting down to negotiate, while the airline has requested federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu step in and direct the parties to enter binding arbitration.

Hajdu said Thursday she asked the union to respond to the company’s request for arbitration. The union formally rejected that option on Friday, instead maintaining its desire to resume bargaining.

It said Hajdu should also deny Air Canada’s request for intervention.

“Such a decision would reaffirm the principles of free collective bargaining and compel Air Canada to return to the bargaining table -- where it ought to be -- and engage meaningfully in negotiations, where it is likely that the parties may be able to reach an agreement,” the union said in a press release.

“Rather than continuing to negotiate in good faith, Air Canada appears to have anticipated government intervention and has opted to suspend meaningful discussions, contrary to its legal obligation to bargain in good faith.”

Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada’s executive vice-president and chief human resources officer, has said the airline agrees that resolving the deadlock through negotiations would be the best outcome.

“Should that all not materialize, we do have to think about the very serious disruptions that would ensue,” she told reporters Thursday.

“We have asked for the government to consider intervening if we get to that point. But we are doing everything in our power to avoid getting to that point.”

Meanwhile, CUPE released new polling by Abacus Data on Friday, suggesting that 59 per cent of Canadians believe the federal government should respect flight attendants’ right to take job action, even if it causes travel disruptions.

The weighted survey of 1,500 respondents, conducted Thursday and Friday, said 88 per cent of Canadians believe flight attendants should be paid for all work-related duties including boarding, delays and safety checks -- a key sticking point in negotiations that has led to the impasse.

“Despite Air Canada’s campaign of half-truths against their cabin crew, Canadians clearly stand on the side of fairness -- with flight attendants,” said Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, in a press release.

“Minister Hajdu must stand on the side of workers’ rights and fairness, and reject Air Canada’s request to trample our Charter rights to bargain an end to unpaid work.”

The poll found 76 per cent of respondents support raising Air Canada flight attendants’ pay “to reflect the safety role of flight attendants in emergencies.”

Four-in-five respondents said they support raising flight attendant pay to meet the rising cost-of-living.

Air Canada said Thursday that its latest proposal includes a 38 per cent increase in total compensation over four years, including a new provision for ground pay “that is industry-leading in Canada.”

The proposal would provide “significant improvements” to health benefits and pension plans, an increase to paid vacation and measures to address union concerns about rest and work-life balance, the airline said.

“It will make Air Canada flight attendants the best compensated in Canada,” the company said, adding its cabin crew already earn up to $17 more per hour than their counterparts at Air Canada’s largest domestic competitor.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025.

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

Business groups alarmed about potential Air Canada shutdown

By The Canadian Press
August 15, 2025 

Air Canada flight attendants hold a silent protest at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

TORONTO — The potential shutdown of Canada’s largest airline because of a labour dispute has business groups warning of the damage it will do to an already fragile economy.

“Taking out the major national airline is just brutal, particularly right now,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Air Canada has already started to cancel flights, warning some 500 would be cut Friday, as more than 10,000 flight attendants are poised to walk off the job around 1 a.m. ET on Saturday if the two sides can’t reach a deal.

The airline and union have blamed each other for the impasse.

A shutdown would mean disrupted travel for businesses trying to find new customers and trade partners amid U.S. tariffs, Kelly said.Latest updates on company news here

“Tons of businesses are working hard to diversify their markets within Canada, or to build new trade connections overseas and with other trading partners, and this could have a very direct impact on that,” Kelly said.

The tourism sector, still working to find stability, will feel an immediate hit, said Matthew Jelley, chair of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.


“We’re in the peak season of tourism and many tourism businesses are seasonal, and so what may be a calendar day may in fact be the equivalent of a week in their business.”

He said the industry has already been navigating the effects of tariffs and shifting demand so the addition of a strike is especially hard to manage.

“Unfortunately the tourism industry has gone through a fair share of disruptions over the last number of years, and every time we think we get a clear moment, you know, something else comes in.”

He said he hopes all parties in the airline dispute can come together and find a resolution, and in the case of government officials, that they not leave anything off the table to protect businesses and keep things moving.

Business groups have broadly called for the government to be ready to step in, especially given the precarious economic situation.

“At a time when Canada is dealing with unprecedented pressures on our critical economic supply chains, the disruption of national air passenger travel and cargo transport services would cause immediate and extensive harm to all Canadians,” said Goldy Hyder, head of the Business Council of Canada in a Friday statement.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has made similar warnings and calls, as did the Toronto Region Board of Trade, pointing to the 130,000 travellers who fly on Air Canada daily, plus cargo operations, for the importance of its operations on the economy.

Along with passenger travel, a potential shutdown is affecting cargo shipments, with Air Canada warning any existing bookings are subject to delay or cancellation.

It says it is no longer accepting new bookings for a variety of cargo divisions including AC Horses, AC Pharmacair and AC eCommerce, while its AC Fresh division is still allowing bookings to several European capitals.

The airline says it is putting in place a modified freighter schedule to mitigate some of the disruption. It says the move will protect about 20 to 25 per cent of usual volumes, but not to all destinations usually served by Air Canada’s passenger network.

Air Canada has requested Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu step in and direct the parties to enter binding arbitration, while the Air Canada component of CUPE has said it is eager to avoid a work stoppage but has urged the federal government not intervene and allow collective bargaining to continue.

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Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025.