Air Canada to resume flights after making deal with flight attendants

Air Canada will restart flights Tuesday evening after reaching a deal with flight attendants to end a three-day walkout that led to mass cancellations during the busy summer season and upended the carrier’s financial outlook. The accord was struck shortly after 4 a.m. Toronto time, concluding a mediated session of negotiations that lasted more than nine hours, the union’s bargaining committee said in a post on its website. Shares of Air Canada rose 0.8% as of 11:15 a.m. in Toronto. [caption id="attachment_57291038" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Air Canada flight attendants on the picket line. (Courtesy/Bloomberg)[/caption] More than 10,500 flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday in a dispute over wages and compensation for time worked before and after flights. The union and the airline didn’t release any details of their agreement. But Air Canada Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau said Monday the airline’s offer to flight attendants tried to address the problem of unpaid working hours. By the end of Tuesday, the strike will have led to the cancellation of more than 2,700 flights at Air Canada and its low-cost Air Canada Rouge subsidiary, according to FlightAware, which tracks airline activity. The data includes more than 500 flights that are expected to be scrapped today, as the company moves aircraft into place. Air Canada said it would likely take a week or more to fully restore service. “We ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days,” the company said. The labor dispute disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of people — and led to a legal skirmish when the federal government stepped in to try to force the flight attendants back to work. The Canada Industrial Relations Board told them to go back to the job by noon Toronto time on Monday, but the workers defied the order, with one union leader saying he was willing to go to jail if necessary. The extended walkout prompted the company to suspend its full-year earnings outlook. As recently as July 28, it had projected 2025 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in a range of CA$3.2 billion to CA$3.6 billion ($2.3 billion to $2.6 billion), broadly in line with 2024 levels. It also had forecast an increase in seat mileage capacity of 1% to 3% from last year. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu, who on Saturday told the labor board to order the workers back, said the government would launch an investigation into unpaid work in the airline industry. Less than twelve hours after that announcement, the union and the airline struck a deal. Disrupted travel The flight attendants garnered much public sympathy in Canada as they made the case that it’s unfair that they don’t get paid for their time unless the aircraft is in motion. Even some stranded passengers took their side. Liam Deak, a 26-year-old musician, was at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) on Monday evening trying to sort out a flight to the U.K., where his three-man rock band, Tumble, had booked six performances over the next week. “It’s a huge bummer for us,” he said after their flight to London Heathrow (LHR) was called off. But “the entire band sympathizes with these flight attendants and they totally deserve better wages. These grounding hours sound absurd.” Amid the uncertainty, some passengers were going to great lengths to get to their destinations. Sharlanne McStay was stuck in Winnipeg, Manitoba, after traveling west for a family event. To get back to Toronto, she booked a series of flights via Calgary (YYC), then Atlanta (ATL), then Buffalo, N.Y. (BUF). From there, she said, she planned to take a taxi to the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and walk across to Canada, where a friend was going to pick her up. “I have to get home and I’m not waiting for Air Canada,” McStay said. Andrew Perez, owner of a communications firm, was vacationing in New York when he found out that his Monday morning return flight to Toronto would be canceled. He was able to book a JetBlue flight to Buffalo instead, where his parents will pick him up and drive him the rest of the way. In the meantime, he said he had to postpone several important meetings, and estimated the rebooking would cost him more than CA$1,000 between the extra night at an airport hotel, gas and the new flight. But he didn’t blame the union for their actions. “I think it was incumbent upon the management to address the grievances.” Register here for Cargo Facts ’ upcoming free webinar, “Air cargo route networks: Strategies for improved results and greater efficiencies,” on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 11 a.m. ET. Cargo Facts Symposium, the quintessential event for stakeholders and key leaders in the global freighter and air cargo industries, will take place Oct. 22-24 at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville . Learn more and register today to take advantage of the early-bird rate before Sept. 5.

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