Atlanta airport could still feel impacts as Air Canada forced into arbitration

By Saturday afternoon, Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu forced the airline into arbitration, which means flight attendants will return to work, according to a press release.

“The enormous impact of a nationwide labour disruption of this scale is already being felt by Canadians and visitors to our country. This impact will grow significantly with a prolonged dispute. This nationwide labour disruption is impeding the movement of passengers and critical cargo,” Hajdu said.

Travelers are in limbo

Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day.

More than 100,000 customers were expected to be impacted on Saturday, according to the airline. Atlanta customers who had booked an Air Canada or Air Canada Rogue flight should only go to Hartsfield-Jackson if they have a confirmed flight.

Not all flights are impacted, though. The airline said Air Canada Jazz and PAL Airlines flights continue to operate as usual.

Even with the strike now over, Hajdu said the full resumption of services could take days, noting it is up to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline’s website or mobile app, according to Air Canada.

The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full “due to the summer travel peak.”

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Flight attendants walk off the job

Flight attendants walked off the job around 1 a.m. Saturday. Shortly after, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports.

Hajdu met with both the airline and the Canadian Union of Public Employees on Friday night and urged them to work harder to reach a deal “once and for all.”

“It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made. Canadians are counting on both parties to put forward their best efforts,” Hajdu said in a statement posted on social media.

Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesperson Hugh Pouliot said the union had a meeting with Hajdu and representatives from Air Canada earlier Friday evening.

Pouliot confirmed the strike had started after no deal was reached, and the airline said shortly after that it would halt operations.

A bitter contract fight between Canada’s largest airline and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants escalated Friday as the union turned down the airline’s request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Sides say they’re far apart on pay

Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal.

Both sides say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren’t in the air.

The airline’s latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years, that it said, “would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada.”

But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn’t go far enough because of inflation.