Air Canada cabin staff strike grounds hundreds of flights

The strike could disrupt travel plans for about 130,000 passengers daily.

Air Canada cabin staff strike grounds hundreds of flights

Air Canada and its budget arm Air Canada Rouge suspended all flights as flight attendants began a strike after wage talks stalled. The Canadian Union of Public Employees says its 10,000 members are officially on strike, the first such walkout since 1985. Regional operators Air Canada Jazz and PAL Airlines would continue to operate. Air Canada warned that about 130,000 customers would be affected each day the strike continues and urged travelers to avoid the airports unless they have a ticket on a different airline.

Air Canada had offered a wage package that would pay a senior flight attendant about CAN$87,000 a year by 2027, a figure the union has called below inflation and below market value. The government and the airline have pressed for independent arbitration to resolve the dispute, while CUPE has rejected that approach. In addition to pay, the union wants compensation for ground work such as boarding time that is not currently paid.

The strike highlights the growing pressure on essential workers to keep pace with rising costs while remaining insulated from automatic wage inflation in other sectors. By grounding flights rather than staging a limited work stoppage, the union leverages public visibility to push for a broader settlement. For Air Canada, the walkout could reshape labor talks across the industry if the airline wins concessions through arbitration or if the strike endures long enough to trigger broader financial pain for travelers and partners. The episode also tests the government’s willingness to intervene in core transportation services during a period of fragile supply chains and competing economic pressures.

Highlights

The outcome could reshape how airlines bargain with staff in Canada and beyond.