Air Canada passengers were still stranded around the world on Monday as Air Canada flights remained grounded after employees with Canada’s largest airline walked off the job on Saturday. On Monday, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled that the strike by 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants is illegal and ordered them to return to work, after they defied a previous directive to end the walkout and enter arbitration.
Air Canada’s labor agreement with its flight attendants expired on March 31. After months of stalled negotiations and no resolution in sight, flight attendants initiated a strike early Saturday morning. Within 12 hours, the Canadian government intervened, requesting that the CIRB impose binding arbitration—a dispute resolution process that involves an arbitrator who makes a final legally binding decision.
On Sunday, the CIRB issued a back-to-work order for Air Canada’s flight attendants. However, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the workers, refused to comply—forcing Air Canada to abandon its plans to resume operations that day. As a result, all flights scheduled for Monday were canceled as well as the strike entered its third day. All Air Canada flights have been canceled since Saturday, with pre-emptive flight cancellations starting as early as Thursday of last week.
“The members of the union’s bargaining unit are directed to resume the performance of their duties immediately and to refrain from engaging in unlawful strike activities,” the CIRB stated in a written decision.
The board, an independent administrative tribunal that interprets and applies Canada’s labor laws, said the union must provide written notice to all of its members by noon Monday that they are required to return to work.
Union leader states ‘We’re going to stay strong’
However, CUPE, representing 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, has refused to comply with this government-issued directive.
Speaking to reporters outside Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Monday, Mark Hancock, the union’s national president, emphasized that CUPE remains open to negotiations, but will not surrender its members’ right to strike.
“If Air Canada thinks there will be planes in the air this afternoon, they’re sadly mistaken. That will not be happening today,” said Hancock, as the airline’s labor dispute deepens.
When asked whether the union acknowledges the legal risks of defying the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s (CIRB) back-to-work order—and how far they’re willing to go—Hancock didn’t hold back.
“There’s no limit. We’re going to stay strong… and if it means folks like me going to jail, so be it. If it means our union being fined, so be it.”
Hancock told reporters that the union remains committed to “standing up for our members’ rights—and for the rights of all Canadians under our Constitution. The right to free collective bargaining, including the right to strike, is a fundamental right protected by our Charter,” he said
Despite ongoing talks, Air Canada and the union remain at odds over wages and other key issues. The union has said its main sticking points revolve around what it calls flight attendants’ “poverty wages” and unpaid labor when planes aren’t in the air; flight attendants are only paid once the flight takes off. Striking flight attendants at Toronto Pearson International Airport held up signs that read “Unpaid work won’t fly” and “Poverty wages = UnCanadian.”
According to Hancock, the last bargaining session between the union and Air Canada took place Friday night.
Air Canada confirmed it abandoned plans to resume flights Monday evening and is urging travelers to stay home unless they have rebooked with another airline.
Meanwhile, CUPE is taking legal action, filing notice that it will challenge the government’s back-to-work directive in court. The union argues that the CIRB order violates the constitutional rights of its 10,000 members—70 percent of whom are women—and highlights concerns over what it describes as systemic unpaid labor for flight attendants.
The ongoing labor dispute has significantly disrupted operations, forcing the airline to cancel more than 2,500 flights in the past week—1,249 domestic and 1,350 international—according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. On Monday, all 723 scheduled flights were canceled, including 353 domestic and 370 international flights.
Hundreds of thousands of travelers impacted
Air Canada estimates that approximately 500,000 passengers have been affected by the flight cancellations to date.
Toronto-based journalist Jennifer Bain had her August 15 flight from Toronto to Tokyo preemptively canceled on August 14 before the strike started as Air Canada started to wind down operations and find places to park its aircraft.
“This was something that was in the company’s control and should have triggered a new flight and compensation,” said Bain. “But the airline then texted to say ‘we’re very sorry, but after searching for flights on over 120 airlines for three days before and after your canceled flight, we’ve been unable to rebook you.’”
Bain said that within minutes, she was easily able to get a new Delta flight routed through Minneapolis.
“Like many Canadians, I fully support the flight attendants in their fight to be fairly compensated,” Bain said. “And like all those directly impacted by flight cancellations, I’m angry at Air Canada for abandoning me.”
Bain hopes this is a pivotal moment that makes it a new industry standard for flight attendants to be paid for work before flights take off and after deplaning, but also strengthens legislation, forcing airlines to automatically rebook stranded passengers and not force them to find their own flights and then have to fight to be reimbursed.
Rebooking options and requirements
Mark Nasr, chief operations officer for Air Canada, said last week that customers whose flights have been canceled will be eligible for a full refund, and said it will make arrangements with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide alternative travel options “to the extent possible.”
Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) requires Air Canada to rebook travelers on any available flight, even if it’s operated by a competitor, within 48 hours of a passenger’s original departure time. While the airline might is offering passengers a refund, taking the compensation could negate customers’ rights to have the airline rebook canceled flights.
Like Bain, Kim Denness-Thomass has also been frustrated by the lack of assistance after the playwright’s tour manager’s Air Canada flight to London, England, was canceled Monday morning ahead of the opening of her play A Little Green Leaf in the UK.
“Air Canada didn’t even email my tour manager to tell her [that] her flight was canceled,” said Thomas. “The rest of the crew and I are supposed to fly out on the weekend, but I’m really concerned about the lack of support by management to follow what they are supposed to be doing by way of booking us on alternate flights.”
Denness-Thomas said her tour manager and a travel agent are exploring all other options for her and five others who are accompanying the London leg of her touring play.
“We have limited funds to solve this in the meantime. We’re basically on our own,” said Denness-Thomas. “But I fully support the flight attendants. They have the right to get paid for work done from the moment their work begins.”
Christina Tunnah, head of the Americas for World Nomads Travel Insurance, suggested that passengers whose flights have been canceled and who haven’t received assistance from the airline check their insurance policy benefits since it usually includes coverage for trip interruption or cancellation. She recommends saving all paperwork, including receipts, boarding passes, and airline communications in the case that travelers need to make a claim with their insurance provider.
Air Canada’s stock dropped more than 1.5 percent by early Monday afternoon.
