Air Canada says it now plans to resume flights on Monday evening after a planned resumption of service on Sunday afternoon was scrapped when the union representing flight attendants refused to comply with the federal government’s return-to-work order.
The airline was initially slated to resume service at 2 p.m. on Sunday but it was forced to put the plans on hold after the Air Canada component of CUPE announced that its members would not comply with a Canada Industrial Relations Board directive ordering them back to work.
In a statement, Air Canada said there were approximately 240 flights scheduled to operate on Sunday, all of which have now been cancelled.
The airline said that it plans to resume flights “as of tomorrow evening,” though it did not provide details on how it may do so should flight attendants remain off the job.
It also did not say whether it would be a full resumption of service or if some flights would remain cancelled.
“Customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and are strongly advised not to go the airport unless they have confirmed flights on other airlines,” the statement notes. “Air Canada will offer those with cancelled flights options, including obtaining a full refund or receiving a credit for future travel. The carrier will also offer to rebook customers on other carriers, although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season.”
The strike first began early Saturday morning, resulting in the cancellation of 700 daily flights and stranding thousands of passengers.
By Saturday afternoon, federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu had effectively ended the legal strike by directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the parties to resume operations and extend the union’s prior collective agreement until binding arbitration determines the final outcome of the labour dispute.
In a statement on Sunday, the minister’s office said Hajdu is “monitoring this situation closely,” adding that the Canada Industrial Relations Board is an independent tribunal.
Air Canada’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Operations Officer Mark Nasr, for his part, expressed frustration over the continuing disruption in an interview with CP24 earlier in the day.
“Due to this illegal strike directive from CUPE to our flight attendants, we’re still grounded, and our customers are still facing disruption and uncertainty,” he said.
Nasr said the impact has been especially felt at Toronto Pearson International Airport, where staff typically support more than 40,000 customers a day.
“Our entire company’s concern is our customers, particularly those that are stranded at their destination,” he said. “We’ve got to get the planes back in the sky. We’ve got to get Canadians moving again.”
Operations were initially suspended overnight Saturday after unsuccessful labour negotiations between Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) gave way to the strike involving about 10,000 workers.
One of the key grievances raised by the union is unpaid time worked by flight attendants during ground delays, boarding and deplaning.
CUPE, in a Saturday afternoon statement, described the federal directive as “cav(ing) to corporate pressure,” accusing the Mark Carney government of dealing “incalculable damage to the Charter and workers’ rights.”
Following the minister’s directive, Air Canada said it would likely take between seven and 10 days for the airline’s schedule to “stabilize.”
In a statement issued earlier on Sunday, the union representing striking workers said that it will challenge the back-to-work order, but remains committed to getting back to the table and wants Air Canada to “negotiate a fair deal, rather than relying on the federal government to do their dirty work for them when bargaining gets a little bit tough.”
On the picket line at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Sunday, component president Wesley Lesosky underscored the union’s rejection.
“I sent them back a video of it being ripped up,” he said, referring to the back-to-work order. “Air Canada needs to see that all these people are standing behind their union. Air Canada needs to understand that we need a collective agreement.”
With files from CTV News’ Jermaine Wilson
