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Air Canada announced today that it will begin gradually restarting its flight operations after reaching a mediated agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is the union representing the airline’s 10,000 flight attendants. The agreement was reached during mediation with both parties agreeing to the process as a way to restore service and move toward a longer-term resolution.
As part of the mediation framework, CUPE committed to having flight attendants immediately return to work so that both Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations would resume. Flights have been fully grounded since August 16th. The first flights are scheduled to depart tonight. Because aircraft and crews are out of position, it may take seven to ten days before the network stabilizes and the schedule resumes as planned. Passengers should anticipate additional cancellations during this time.
While this agreement has gotten flight attendants back to work, it needs to be ratified by the union members. If this does not continue to progress, the Canadian government will likely order both sides back into binding arbitration. The terms of the agreement have not been made public, but here is what was previously offered:
- Flight attendants were promised a 38% total increase over four years (including 25% in year one), plus improvements to pensions, benefits, and crew rest.
- Introduced ground pay for boarding (though at 50% of the normal hourly rate).
- This proposal would make Air Canada flight attendants the highest paid in Canada.
Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada, said:
The suspension of our service is extremely difficult for our customers. We deeply regret and apologize for the impact on them of this labour disruption. Our priority now is to get them moving as quickly as possible. Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking. Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days. I assure them that everyone at Air Canada is doing everything possible to enable them to travel soon.”
Anthony’s Take: We’ll now see what the flight attendants think of the new offer and if it’s accepted. If this stalls, it could get ugly again for passengers traveling across Canada and beyond.
(Image Credits: Air Canada.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
