Air Canada strike: Flights remain grounded as union defies government back-to-work order
August 18, 2025
Air Canada’s plans to resume operations have collapsed after its flight attendants’ union refused to comply with a government back-to-work order, extending a strike that has already stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Air Canada flight attendants strike over time paid
Flight attendants and Air Canada are at odds over compensation. Air Canada, among others, traditionally pays them only when planes are moving.
US and Canadian flight attendants are seeking time-based compensation, including compensation for tasks like boarding passengers.
The new labour agreements at American Airlines and Alaska Airlines require carriers to pay flight attendants when passengers are boarding. American also pays flight attendants for some hours between flights.
Delta Air Lines’ cabin crew began the movement for boarding compensation at a half-hourly rate, successfully negotiating the terms with a threat to unionise in 2022. Cabin crews at United Airlines, who rejected a tentative contract last month, want the same provision.
Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, explained flight attendants’ demands in an interview with Reuters.
“It’s not just the assisting of the passengers getting on the plane and saying, ‘please put your bag here,” Lesosky said. “What we’re looking for is, hey you require us to show up an hour prior, you require us to start safety briefings, safety checks. You require us to assist on the ground. That’s what we’re asking to be paid for.”
Ottawa government orders arbitration, Air Canada flight attendant union refuses to return to work
Air Canada and its leisure arm, Rouge, were forced to suspend nearly all flights after approximately 10,000 flight attendants representing the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) walked out on August 16.
Regional services under Air Canada Express operated by Jazz or PAL continue, but Air Canada had to cancel its services.
The Ottawa government intervened quickly. Employment Minister Patty Hajdu directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to impose binding arbitration and ordered cabin crew to return to work by 2 p.m. Eastern on August 17. The government framed the measure as essential to protect the national economy and minimise disruption for travellers.
CUPE, however, denounced the order as unconstitutional and declared it would not comply.
“Our members are not going back to work,” Canadian Union of Public Employees national president Mark Hancock said outside Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, while tearing up a copy of the order, as reported by the Associated Press. “We are saying no.”
Air Canada’s Sunday restart plans thwarted
Air Canada first announced it would resume flights late on August 17 following the government’s directive. But after the union’s refusal, the airline postponed the restart, saying service could not resume without cabin crew. As of August 18, operations remain suspended.
Air Canada said in a statement that the union “illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a direction from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.”
The carrier has urged the government of Ottawa to enforce the CIRB’s ruling, acknowledging that it cannot compel employees to return to work on its own.
The strike has disrupted approximately 130,000 passengers per day, with as many as 700 flights cancelled daily at peak impact. Travellers have limited alternatives across Canada’s travel network.
Air Canada said it is providing full refunds, travel credits, and rebooking options, but warned that availability remains limited and there could be delays once flights eventually resume. In its statement, Air Canada said it will resume flights on Monday evening. However, an impasse remains with the union gaining some political support.
Air Canada flight attendant strike: a legal and political test
Flight attendants’ confrontation with the airline casts doubt on government interventions in labour disputes. A back-to-work law has been used in Canada before, but CUPE’s refusal to comply marks a rare challenge to federal authority.
Canada’s Green Party came out in support of flight attendants’ defiance of the back-to-work order. Elizabeth May, Green Party leader, said this action violated fundamental rights protected by the Charter.
“When Air Canada was on the brink, it was flight attendants and other workers who kept the airline alive. Now those same workers are told their voices don’t matter. This is not the Canada we believe in—workers have the right to fair bargaining without being silenced by corporate power and government convenience.”
The Greens urge Air Canada to return to the negotiating table “in good faith, restore what was taken from workers, and respect the rights of those who keep the airline flying.”
With conflicting demands on both sides, the standoff leaves passengers and the Canadian aviation system in limbo.
