Those who were scheduled to fly into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport through Air Canada might have noticed their flight was canceled.
Anika Robertson, a spokesperson for the airport, said Saturday morning that “there are no Air Canada flights coming into Atlanta.”
Air Canada suspended operations as more than 10,000 of its flight attendants went on strike early Saturday after a deadline to reach a deal passed, leaving travelers around the world stranded.
About 130,000 customers are expected to be impacted each day as the strike continues, 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.
Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesperson Hugh 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.
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.
Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu met with both the airline and union 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.
Pouliot, the spokesperson for the union, said the union had a meeting with Hajdu and representatives from Air Canada earlier Friday evening.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Travelers are in limbo
Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day.
How long the airline’s planes will be grounded remains to be seen, but Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr has said it could take up to a week to fully restart operations once a tentative deal is reached.
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
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.
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