Air Canada Flight Attendant Strike Vote 99.7% Vote Yes

Ten thousand Air Canada flight attendants are casting their final ballots in a strike vote that could bring Canada’s largest airline to a standstill during the peak summer season.

Voting will end at 2:00 today (Tuesday, August 5), and results of the vote will likely be known by this evening, according to statements by the CUPE union that represents AC’s flight attendants.

The union called for a strike vote on July 25 after it concluded a 60-day conciliation process with no deal. Voting has been in progress since July 28.

 A 10-year agreement with the airline ended in March of this year, and flight attendants are seeking improvements in a number of areas, including pay, unpaid work and pensions.

CUPE claims that before, during and after flights, flight attendants are required to perform “hours of unpaid, mandatory” duties, including safety checks, boarding, deplaning and assisting passengers with special needs. Flight attendants don’t get paid until the doors of the aircraft close for departure, and their shift ends when the doors open at destination.

Following the expiration of the unsuccessful conciliation period on July 25, a 21-day ‘cooling-off period’ began. That ends August 16. If the union receives a strong strike mandate – which is a virtual certainty – it could then issue a 72-hour strike notice. This makes the first day for a potential strike should the two parties not reach an agreement August 20th.

On October 10, 2024, Air Canada’s 5,400 pilots ratified a new four-year contract with significant improvements to compensation. Reuters reported that it saw an executive summary of the new contract and that it gave pilots a general cumulative pay increase of about 42%. Forging that agreement took both parties down to the wire.

At the time of the pilot deal, Air Canada was flying high financially. The situation is somewhat different this year due to tariff and trade battles with the U.S. that have resulted in some Canadian boycotting travel to the U.S. Air Canada profits dropped by more than 50% in the second quarter of 2025. 

In late July, flight attendants at United Airlines rejected a tentative agreement that was negotiated in May. It would have seen FAs get immediate raises of 26%, put other improvements. Over 70% of flight attendant union members voted against the deal.