Air Canada has suspended all its flights as a strike by cabin workers begins – a transfer the airline mentioned will disrupt journey plans for round 130,000 passengers a day.
The union representing greater than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants confirmed the 72-hour industrial motion early on Saturday morning.
The airline mentioned it had suspended all flights, together with these beneath its funds arm Air Canada Rouge, and suggested affected clients to not journey to the airport except flying with a special airline.
Air Canada’s flight attendants are calling for increased salaries and to be paid for work when plane are on the bottom.
The strike took impact at 00:58 ET (04:58 GMT) on Saturday, although Air Canada started scaling again its operations earlier than then. The airline says round 500 flights might be affected per day.
Flight attendants will picket at main Canadian airports, the place passengers have been already attempting to safe new bookings earlier within the week.
Air Canada, which flies on to 180 cities worldwide, mentioned it had “suspended all operations” and that it was “strongly advising affected clients to not go to the airport”.
It added that Air Canada Jazz, PAL Airways and Air Canada Categorical flights have been unaffected by the strike.
“Air Canada deeply regrets the impact the strike is having on clients,” it mentioned.
By Friday night time, the airline mentioned it had cancelled 623 flights affecting greater than 100,000 passengers, as a part of a winding down of operations forward of the strike.
In contract negotiations, the airline mentioned it had supplied flight attendants a 38% improve in complete compensation over 4 years, with a 25% elevate within the first 12 months.
CUPE mentioned the provide was “beneath inflation, beneath market worth, beneath minimal wage” and would nonetheless go away flight attendants unpaid for some hours of labor, together with boarding and ready at airports forward of flights.
The union and the airline have publicly traded barbs about one another’s willingness to succeed in an settlement.
Earlier this month, 99.7% of workers represented by the union voted for a strike.
Canadian jobs minister Patty Hajdu this week urged Air Canada and the union to return to the bargaining desk to keep away from a strike.
She additionally mentioned in a press release that Air Canada had requested her to refer the dispute to binding arbitration.
CUPE has asserted that it had been negotiating in good religion for greater than eight months, however that Air Canada as a substitute sought government-directed arbitration.
“Once we stood robust collectively, Air Canada did not come to the desk in good religion,” the union mentioned in a press release to its members. “As a substitute, they known as on the federal authorities to step in and take these rights away.”
