The union issued a strike notice on Tuesday after it submitted a counter proposal on wages that Air Canada did not respond to, says CUPE spokesperson Hugh Pouliot.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
Air Canada AC-T will begin cancelling flights Thursday ahead of a planned nationwide strike of flight attendants, after talks between the union representing them and the carrier broke down late Monday evening.
The Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees issued a 72-hour strike notice Wednesday morning, which means more than 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge could go on strike starting Saturday.
Air Canada said that in order to manage the uncertainty ahead of a heavy travel period, the first flights will be cancelled Thursday, with more on Friday, followed by a complete suspension of all operations on Saturday if a deal is not reached by then.
Customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and will be eligible for a full refund, the airline said in a statement.
The carrier has requested that the federal government intervene in the labour dispute by directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration, which would force both sides to settle on a new contract.
But Ottawa has so far been reluctant to step in. In a statement issued late Tuesday, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said both parties should stay at the table until a deal is reached. “The best agreements are the ones the parties reach themselves,” she said.
CUPE spokesperson Hugh Pouliot said the union had submitted a counterproposal on wages Tuesday evening but Air Canada did not respond, forcing the union to issue a strike notice. The carrier subsequently issued a lockout notice to staff, which would take effect at 1:30 a.m. Saturday if a deal is not reached.
“We are still at the bargaining table. We are just waiting for Air Canada to respond,” Mr. Pouliot told The Globe and Mail.
Air Canada did not respond to queries from The Globe about the state of negotiations.
The flight attendants delivered one of the strongest strike mandates in recent Canadian labour history, with 99.7 per cent voting in favour of a strike and 94.6 per cent of more than 10,000 members turning out to vote.
Wages are at the crux of the dispute between Air Canada and CUPE.
The airline is offering a compounded wage bump of 17.2 per cent over the next four years (8 per cent in year one, followed by increases of 3 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 2.75 per cent). The union argues the cumulative wage increase does not come close to matching inflation over the past 10 years.
Earlier: Air Canada labour talks break down hours before strike notice deadline
Air Canada flight attendants last negotiated a contract in 2015. The compounded rate of inflation in Canada from 2015 to 2025 was almost 28 per cent.
The other key point of contention is unpaid work. The union is attempting to restructure compensation so that flight attendants get paid for the duration of their shift. They are currently compensated at an hourly rate from the time the plane takes off to the time it lands, but are not paid for the time it takes to conduct boarding safety checks and deplaning.
Compensating flight attendants solely for in-flight work has been an industry-wide practice for decades. But the increase in flight delays that emerged in the wake of the pandemic has meant more time on the tarmac for flight attendants, with no compensation.
“The postpandemic environment for flight attendants has become increasingly exploitative because they are not being paid for ground time,” said Steven Tufts, a labour expert at York University.
Prof. Tufts said CUPE’s push to restructure the compensation system is part of a global movement among airline unions to have flight attendants paid for the entirety of their shift.
“If Air Canada does agree to change the terms of compensation, you’ll likely see Air Transat and WestJet flight attendants get paid similarly. And that will spill over into the larger American airlines,” he added.
Hundreds of Air Canada flight attendants picket at Toronto Pearson Airport on Monday.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
In 2022, in an attempt to dissuade flight attendants from unionizing, Delta Air Lines started paying them at half their hourly rate for 40 to 50 minutes of boarding time. Porter Airlines also started compensating its flight attendants for portions of their predeparture work this year.
Shanyn Elliott, a flight attendant who has worked for Air Canada Rouge since 2017, said her predeparture work is crucial because it involves safety briefings with the pilot and a check of safety equipment at each seat on the plane. “We also assist passengers with disabilities, help people find their seats, grab water for passengers – the entire time we are not getting paid.”
Ms. Elliott also said flight attendants vie to get assigned what they term “productive turns,” which are shifts that have longer in-flight times, because they pay more. “If I do a Toronto-Montreal return trip, I’m only in the air for maybe two hours, but my total time working might be six hours. How is it fair that I only get paid for two hours?”
According to the union, flight attendants work an average of 35 hours per month for free, almost a week’s worth of pay. The union also said Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants work an average of 80 in-flight hours in a month. “If you factor in the total time worked, you’re essentially earning less than federal minimum wage if you’re a junior flight attendant,” said Mr. Pouliot, the CUPE spokesperson.
A backgrounder on Air Canada’s website detailing compensation states that the starting salary for a flight attendant hired in 2015 was $25.13 an hour. If that employee continued working in the same position for a decade, their current pay would be $63.07 an hour – a 150-per-cent increase. The document also states that half of the carrier’s flight attendants earned more than $54,000 in 2024, excluding incentive rewards and health and pension benefits.
Are you affected by a possible Air Canada flight attendant strike?
The union representing around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants could go on strike as early as Aug. 16 after negotiations between the two sides reached an impasse, and the company has already begun to cancel flights. Our reporters want to hear from passengers that have had their plans affected by the possible strike. Have you had to switch your flights or change your travel schedule? Share your story in the box below.