Air Canada Strike Leaves British Travellers Rather Baffled

What a complicated situation this has turned out to be, and it's getting more confusing by the hour. It all started when 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, represented by CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), walked out at 6:00 AM BST on Saturday 16th August.

More airborne than the rest of Air Canada's planes...

At the heart of the dispute are some rather questionable employment practices that might surprise you. Air Canada flight attendants were only paid when aircraft doors were closed - meaning all the time spent boarding passengers, conducting safety checks, and dealing with delays was essentially unpaid work. The union has been pushing for payment during all working hours, not just flight time, along with better rest periods and improved job security.

The strike completely grounded Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations, stranding over 100,000 passengers worldwide - including countless British holidaymakers who suddenly found themselves stuck at airports from St John's to Vancouver.

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But here's where it gets particularly confusing: just hours into the strike, the Canadian government stepped in with emergency powers, ordering both the airline and union back to work and into binding arbitration. You'd think that would resolve matters, but the union has rejected the government's intervention, calling the arbitration order "unconstitutional", and "crushing" to workers' rights and vowing to continue their industrial action despite the legal directive.

This leaves travellers facing an unusual situation where striking workers are defying their own government's back-to-work order, creating uncertainty about whether flights will actually resume.

For travellers caught up in this mess, here's what you need to know: As of 17th August, if you're booked to travel between August 15 and August 19, you can change your flight for free if you purchased an Air Canada ticket or redeemed Aeroplan points no later than August 14, 2025. You can reschedule to travel between August 21 and September 12 at no extra cost.

The jobs minister of Canada says full resumption of services could take days, whenever the strike does end, so don't expect things to return to normal immediately. If you're meant to be travelling with Air Canada in the coming days, it's worth having a backup plan, checking directly with Air Canada for the latest updates, and having a word with your travel insurance.

The whole situation seems to be a bit of a standoff between the union, the airline, and the government - not exactly what you want when you're trying to get home from your holidays. Hopefully this Air Canada strike doesn't effect you, the British traveller, too much.

Update: Click here for the latest from Air Canada as of 6:15pm BST 17th August.

Sam

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