Air Canada says to restart flights over coming days, flights attendants vow to continue strike

OTTAWA -- Air Canada announced on Sunday it plans to resume flights on Sunday evening after the Canadian federal government ordered binding arbitration to end a strike by around 10,000 flight attendants, which began early Saturday.

The restart of operations will begin immediately, with first flights on Sunday evening, but it will take several days before its operations return to normal, said Canada's largest airline in a news release.

However, the Canadian Union of Public Employees told Radio-Canada on Sunday that the flight attendants will disregard the government's back-to-work order and remain on strike.

Canadian Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu issued a statement on Saturday saying that she exercised her authority under the Canada Labour Code to direct the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to arbitrate the dispute between Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

According to the release, the CIRB has directed Air Canada to resume airline operations and for all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to resume their duties by 14:00 EDT (1800 GMT) on Sunday.

The CIRB further ordered that the term of the collective agreement between Air Canada and CUPE that expired on March 31, 2025, be extended to include the period beginning on April 1, 2025, and ending on the day on which the new collective agreement between the parties comes into effect, said the release.

Despite eight months of negotiations on issues of compensation increase, ground pay, improved pensions and benefits, and increased crew rest, Air Canada has been unable to reach a tentative agreement with CUPE.