Air Canada to resume flights after cabin crew strike
What's the story
Air Canada has announced plans to resume its flight operations today, following a directive from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). The board issued the order in response to a request from Patty Hajdu, Canada's Jobs Minister. The move comes after a strike by Air Canada's cabin crew disrupted over 700 flights.
Directive details
Airline's contract negotiations referred to final binding interest arbitration
The CIRB has ordered Air Canada to resume operations and all flight attendants of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge to return to their duties by 2:00pm ET. The board also referred the airline's contract negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to final binding interest arbitration. This decision is aimed at resolving outstanding terms of the collective agreement between both parties.
Impact assessment
Some flights may still be canceled over next week
The strike, which was the first of its kind since 1985, forced Air Canada to cancel flights on Friday. This left over 100,000 passengers looking for alternate arrangements or staying put. The airline has now said that while operations will resume today evening, some flights may still be canceled over the next week to 10 days as they work toward normalizing their schedule.