Air Canada Strike Ends, Airline Reaches Deal With Flight Attendants

Air Canada announced early Tuesday morning that it had reached an agreement with its flight attendants union to end the first strike by its cabin crew in 40 years.

According to Reuters.com, Air Canada will gradually resume flight operations, but a spokesperson for the carrier revealed that flights will be canceled over the next seven to ten days until the schedule is stabilized.

Air Canada's unionized flight attendants said mediation was completed and a tentative agreement has been reached, ending the strike after four days, which impacted hundreds of thousands of passengers.

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

The CUPE went on strike to demand pay and compensation similar to those offered by United States carriers that had recently revamped their contracts with flight attendants, including American Airlines.

Despite the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruling the strike illegal, the crew members continued their strike in defiance. The two sides resumed negotiations on Monday and finally reached a deal that was announced early Tuesday morning. 

Details of the deal have not yet been made public, but CUPE is calling the deal a  “transformational change for our industry after a historic fight to affirm our Charter rights,” in a statement to the press. The deal will now undergo a ratification process, which includes a vote by union members. The union struck a victorious note in its statement, saying:

 “Unpaid work is over.

We have reclaimed our voice and our power.

When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”

Air Canada’s statement focused on getting passengers back in the sky. “The suspension of our service is extremely difficult for our customers,” Air Canada CEO and President Michael Rousseau said. “We deeply regret and apologize for the impact on them of this labor disruption.”

“Our priority now is to get them moving as quickly as possible,” Rousseau continued. “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,” Rousseau concluded.

Passengers are still asked only to go to the airport if they have a confirmed flight, as bringing crews and craft back into position will take some time. Service is expected to take between a week and ten days to come back into full operation.

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