Stalemate: Air Canada Flight Attendants Begin Strike

OTTAWA — After negotiations between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Air Canada (AC) ended in an impasse, 10,000 flight attendants at the airline went on strike early on Saturday.

The deadlock stems from the flag carrier's continued refusal to pay flight attendants for all of their labor. CUPE says it has been adamant that all tasks pertaining to safety should be compensated at the full hourly rate. The airline disagrees.

Regarding wages, the CUPE says AC’s last offer would still leave flight attendants living below poverty levels for many years to come.

“We are heartbroken for our passengers. We do not want to go on strike, and we do not want to be locked out, but it is clear that Air Canada has no incentive to bargain,” said CUPE.

Flight Cancellations

As of 5:30 PM EST Friday, AC had cancelled 185 flights—82 domestic and 103 international. Over the broader reporting period, domestic cancellations stand at 217 out of 2,819 scheduled flights, while international cancellations total 223 out of 2,922 scheduled flights. 

Now, according to The New York Times, the Canadian flag carrier has cancelled the majority of its 700 flights, which transport over 130,000 passengers daily, before the labor stoppage.

Seventy percent of the attendants are women, and they want pay rises and recompense for the unpaid job they conduct before and after flights take off—a process known as "groundwork" in the industry.

The last major labor actions involving the Canadian carrier occurred in 2011 and 2012, but these did not involve flight attendants going on strike and there were only brief disputes and government interventions.

Stay tuned to Airways for twice-daily operational reports here over the next 72 hours as the strike action progresses.