Air Canada cancels flights as workers plan stoppage

Air Canada begins canceling flights ahead of a potential strike by flight attendants, signaling a labor standoff that could affect tens of thousands of travelers.

Air Canada cancels flights as flight attendants plan work stoppage

Air Canada started canceling flights on Thursday as its flight attendants union issued a 72 hour strike notice. The airline said all flights will be paused by Saturday to allow for an orderly restart. By Friday evening the company expected over 100 thousand customers to be affected and up to 25 thousand Canadians abroad to be stranded as cancellations rise toward 500 flights by Friday.

Air Canada offered full refunds for canceled flights and has arranged options with other carriers where possible. The union says the issue is poverty wages and unpaid labor when planes are on the ground. The airline has offered a 38 percent increase in total compensation over four years. The union rejected binding arbitration and wants a deal that members can vote on. If talks fail the government could intervene.

The pause highlights a key tension in modern air travel between controlling costs and meeting worker expectations. A staged grounding shows both sides want leverage, while the travel experience hangs in the balance for hundreds of thousands of people. The dispute also tests how far government involvement should go when private sector bargaining stalls.

If talks continue to stall, the next move will reveal how Canada manages large scale labor action in a vital industry and whether arbitration remains a viable path to avert broad disruption.

Highlights

The next round of talks will show if a shared plan can replace the current fault lines.