Air Canada’s historic four-day flight attendant strike has concluded with a breakthrough tentative agreement that ends the first cabin crew walkout in 40 years. The resolution comes after intense negotiations between Canada’s largest airline and 10,400 unionized flight attendants who demanded fair compensation for ground duties. This labor dispute disrupted travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers during peak summer season, highlighting the critical role of aviation workers in maintaining transportation networks.
Strike resolution brings operational restart
Air Canada’s AC.TO unionized flight attendants reached an agreement with the country’s largest carrier on Tuesday, ending the first strike by its cabin crew in 40 years that had upended travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The strike that lasted nearly four days had led the airline that serves about 130,000 people daily to withdraw its third quarter and full-year earnings guidance.
Shares of Air Canada rose 4% in early trading. They have lost 14% of their value so far this year.
The carrier said it would gradually resume operations and a full restoration may require a week or more, while the union said it has completed mediation with the airline and its low-cost affiliate Air Canada Rouge.
“The Strike has ended. We have a tentative agreement we will bring forward to you,” the Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a Facebook post.
Gradual service restoration timeline
Air Canada said some flights will be canceled over the next seven to ten days until the schedule is stabilized and that customers with canceled flights can choose between a refund, travel credit, or rebooking on another airline.
The flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday after contract talks with the carrier failed. They had sought pay for tasks such as boarding passengers.
Union demands and compensation issues
The CUPE, which represents Air Canada’s 10,400 flight attendants, wanted to make gains on unpaid work that go beyond recent advances secured by their counterparts at U.S. carriers like American Airlines AAL.O.
In a rare act of defiance, the union remained on strike even after the Canada Industrial Relations Board declared its action unlawful.
Their refusal to follow a federal labor board order for the flight attendants to return to work had created a three-way standoff between the company, workers and the government.
Government mediation attempts
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu had urged both sides to consider government mediation and raised pressure on Air Canada on Monday, promising to investigate allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector.
Over the past two years, unions in aerospace, construction, airline and rail sectors have pushed employers for higher pay, improved conditions and better benefits amid a tight labor market.
Air Canada’s flight attendants have for months argued new contracts should include pay for work done on the ground, such as boarding passengers.
Passenger disruption and travel impact
Its CEO had on Monday in a Reuters interview stopped short of offering plans to break the deadlock, while defending the airline’s offer of a 38% boost to flight attendants’ total compensation.
Retiree Klaus Hickman missed a flight to Toronto earlier in the week. While he rebooked on another airline, he was concerned about returning to Calgary on time for a connecting flight to Germany.
The successful conclusion of Air Canada’s flight attendant strike marks a pivotal moment for Canadian labor relations and aviation industry standards. The union’s ability to secure a tentative agreement while defying government back-to-work orders sets an important precedent for worker rights across multiple sectors. This victory demonstrates that organized labor can still achieve meaningful gains when workers remain united despite political and corporate pressure. The resolution should provide stability for both passengers and airline operations while establishing new benchmarks for fair compensation in the aviation industry.
GCN.com/Reuters.