Ahead of the anticipated 10,000-flight attendant strike, Air Canada intends to cancel at least 500 flights through Friday and cease operations entirely by Saturday morning.
At the height of the country’s summer travel season, up to 130,000 passengers might be impacted daily if Canada’s top airline grinds to a halt.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents 10,000 flight attendants, and company executives blamed one another for the deadlock. Leaders of Air Canada have requested that the contract issue be submitted to binding arbitration by the Canadian government.
Two sides must be present for a negotiation to take place, but Air Canada doesn’t seem to be participating, the union stated in a news release on Wednesday evening. For almost a whole day, the airline has not been present at the negotiating table.
According to the CBC, Air Canada management claimed that the union’s most recent proposals were unsustainable and pointless.
With an emphasis on long-haul overseas flights, the airline started canceling flights for Thursday night. As of Thursday afternoon, the flight tracking website FlightAware reported that only nine Air Canada flights had been canceled.
However, business executives said that 500 flights will be canceled on Friday, preparing the airline for a full shutdown on Saturday.
According to government statistics, 41% of all air travel in Canada is conducted by Air Canada. The airline operates hundreds of flights to and from the United States every day.
Using News Wire Services
