Air Canada to Cancel First Flights Today, Will Shut Down by Saturday

With flight attendants set to walk off the job Saturday morning, Air Canada is in the process of winding down operations. The airline says the first flights will be cancelled today, with more tomorrow, followed by a complete cessation on Saturday, August 16.

Patty Hajdu, the federal Minister of Jobs and Families said in a statement that she has met with both the union and the airline. She said federal mediators will remain available until a deal is reached.

“The best agreements are ones the parties reach themselves,” Hajdu said. “Canadians expect them to reach a deal one way or another.”

In a statement posted to its website yesterday, Air Canada said: “To provide our customers with certainty, we are now beginning a phased wind down of most of our operations, to be completed over the next three days.”

Air Canada is hold a press conference near Toronto Pearson Airport this morning, featuring Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer, and Mark Nasr, EVP and Chief Operations Officer. Travel Market Report Canada will attend and report on any developments.

Here’s where the two parties stand at this point:

“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. “Air Canada’s response to our proposals makes one thing clear: they are not interested in resolving these critical issues.”

For its part, Air Canada said the two parties remained far apart despite eight months of negotiations and an offer to enter arbitration. On August 11, the airline sent a proposal to the union that it says offered a 38% compensation increase over four years, among other benefits and protections. The airline says both the arbitration and contract proposals were rejected by the union.

Air Canada serves approximately 130,000 passengers per day.