Toronto: Air Canada and its flight attendants have reached a tentative agreement, ending a strike that grounded flights and left thousands of passengers stranded since Saturday.
The deal was announced by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and confirmed by the airline, with flights resuming later on Tuesday. More than 10,000 flight attendants had walked out in protest over pay and scheduling.
The tentative agreement, details of which have not yet been fully disclosed, was reached after nine hours of talks with a government-approved mediator. CUPE described the deal as achieving transformational change for workers and the airline industry.
The airline will offer immediate pay increases of 8 percent to 12 percent for flight attendants. The proposed agreement also addresses unpaid work, guaranteeing at least an hour of ground pay for pre-flight duties, such as boarding and waiting at airports, at 50 percent of the hourly rate, with a 5 percent annual increase. The union said the deal rectifies previous conditions that were “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage.”
Flight attendants must still ratify the proposed deal before it becomes final. CUPE urged its members to fully co-operate with resumption of operations while highlighting the historic nature of the negotiations.
Please see my statement on the latest development between CUPE Flight Attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada:
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Voici ma déclaration sur les derniers développements entre les agents de bord du SCFP d’Air Canada et Air Canada : pic.twitter.com/E1QMIvpxhF— Patty Hajdu (@PattyHajdu) August 19, 2025
The dispute escalated when CUPE rejected an order from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board declaring the strike unlawful. The Canadian government had also called for binding arbitration and a return to work over the weekend, which the union rejected, accusing officials of caving to corporate pressure.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu encouraged both parties to resume talks and announced a probe into unpaid work in the airline sector. Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the agreement, saying on X that he hopes it will ensure flight attendants are compensated fairly at all times, while ending disruption for hundreds of thousands of Canadian families, workers, and visitors to Canada.
The nearly four-day strike affected more than 500,000 passengers, according to Air Canada. The airline operates roughly 700 daily flights across domestic and international routes. While some flights resumed on Tuesday evening, Air Canada warned it may take several days to fully restore its schedule due to aircraft and crew being out of position.
