Air Canada to halt operations for 3 days from Friday as pay deal deadline with crew approaches

Following a notice from the Air Canada wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) representing 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge intending to strike work, Air Canada began a wind-down of its operations for three days from Friday.

This follows CUPE’s notice to Air Canada, mentioning a 72-hour strike “after the airline refused to recognise that flight attendants should be paid for all their time on the job”, as per CUPE.

Air Canada had earlier issued a 72-hour lockout notice.

Demands from crew

Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada Component of CUPE, was quoted on the union website as stating that data-driven proposals on wages and unpaid work, all rooted in fairness and industry standards, have been put forward by CUPE for the past nine months.

“The airline is also refusing to increase flight attendant wages to match industry standards, inflation, or even the federal minimum wage. Entry-level flight attendant wages have only gone up $3 per hour since 2000 while inflation has increased by 69% in the same timeframe,” noted the website.

Increment not enough for high living costs

Leosky said that “locals have had to set up food banks in our union offices for junior members who cannot afford groceries”.

The union said that Air Canada’s 8% increment offer in year one would not even cover the 9% loss in purchasing power of the employees, calling the increment an effective pay cut.

Federal copout

Air Canada was also accused of calling on the federal government to take away the rights of the workers by the CUPE.

“Air Canada is clearly banking on the federal government bailing them out by pre-empting flight attendants’ Charter-protected right to take job action,” said the website.

Flyers in jeopardy

For disrupted operations, the airline offered a free change of flight following the turn of events noting that people scheduled to travel between August 15 and 18 can change their flights for free if they had purchased an Air Canada ticket or redeemed points for an Aeroplan flight reward no later than August 13, 2025 or can reschedule their flight to any date between August 21 and September 12, at no cost.

The airline also offered the value of the ticket in an airline wallet or as a future travel credit if the tickets were purchased at a non-refundable fare.

For cancelled flights, Air Canada offered a rebooking with the next available flight, and if that is not possible, a refund.