Air Canada Strike Ends; Tentative Deal Reached, Flights Start to Resume

Air Canada and CUPE have reached a tentative deal both union and airline said in statements early Tuesday morning.

“The Strike has ended. We have a tentative agreement we will bring forward to you,” the Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a Facebook post.

“We are required to advise our membership that we must fully cooperate with resumption of operations. Your Union worked from 19:00h last night to 04:23h this morning.”

Air Canada said it will gradually restart its operations today after reaching a mediated agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) through a process overseen by a mutually agreed-to mediator, William Kaplan.

Mediation discussions were begun on the basis that the union commit to have the airline’s 10,000 flight attendants immediately return to work, allowing the airline to resume the operations of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, which have been grounded since August 16.

“The suspension of our service is extremely difficult for our customers. We deeply regret and apologize for the impact on them of this labour disruption. Our priority now is to get them moving as quickly as possible. Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking. Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days. I assure them that everyone at Air Canada is doing everything possible to enable them to travel soon,” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada.

The first flights are scheduled for the evening of August 19, but customers are advised that the airline’s return to full, regular service may require seven-to-ten days as aircraft and crew are out of position. During this process, some flights will be cancelled over the next seven to ten days until the schedule is stabilized.

Only customers with confirmed bookings whose flights are shown as operating should go to the airport (check your flight’s status on aircanada.com or on the Air Canada mobile app before going to the airport).

Air Canada will offer options to those with cancelled flights, including obtaining a full refund or receiving a credit for future travel. The carrier will also offer to rebook customers on other airlines, although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season.