Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants say the strike has ended after the two parties reached a new tentative agreement.
The airline said in a statement on Tuesday that it would gradually resume service after reaching a mediated settlement.
“Mediation discussions were begun on the basis that the union commit to have the airline’s 10,000 flight attendants immediately return to work, allowing the airline to resume the operations of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, which have been grounded since Aug. 16,” the airline wrote in a news release.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) Air Canada Component said in a bargaining update that it would have a tentative agreement to bring forward to members for a vote.
“We are required to advise our membership that we must fully cooperate with resumption of operations,” the union said in their update.
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Air Canada said it would not comment on details of the agreement.
CUPE said in a statement that they were “achieving transformational change for our industry” through the agreement.
“Unpaid work is over,” the union said in an email, referencing a key sticking point for the union during negotiations.
“This is historic for Canadian flight attendants that’s all I can say. We fought the norm in the industry and we won.”
According to the airline, the first flights set to resume are scheduled for Tuesday evening, but it says the airline’s return to full, regular service may require seven to 10 days as aircraft and crew are “out of position.”
As a result, some flights will still be cancelled over this period until the “schedule is stabilized.”
Travellers with confirmed bookings whose flights are shown as operating are the only ones the airline says should head to the airport.
“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,” said Michael Rousseau, president and chief executive officer of Air Canada.
Air Canada is advising travellers it will offer options to those with cancelled flights, including either providing a full refund or receiving a credit for future travel.
The airline says it will also offer to rebook customers on other airlines, though notes capacity is limited due to it being peak summer travel season.
The agreement comes a day after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) deemed the ongoing strike by flight attendants “unlawful.” the union had defied two orders by the CIRB requiring them to return to work.
The CIRB’s first order came Sunday morning after Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, asking the CIRB to order both the airline and flight attendants back to work and to impose binding arbitration.
On Monday, following their second refusal, CUPE national president Mark Hancock told reporters there was “no limit” to what they’d do to secure a good deal, even jail time.
“If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it,” Hancock said.
Hours after those comments, Hajdu put out a video on X urging both parties to resume bargaining, but also ordered a federal probe into “allegations of unpaid work” by the union, an issue that CUPE previously said remained unresolved in its negotiations.
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