The announcement that Air Canada has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing 10,000 flight attendants, signalling an end to their contract dispute, is likely a relief to many travellers — but for some Canadians, it comes too late to save their trip.
“I’m supposed to be in Scotland, in the Scottish Highlands right now,” Arianna Anderson told CBC News Network on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old had spent months raising money to join 12 other Girl Guides on a 10-day trip to the U.K. There, along with three troop leaders, the group planned to visit Pax Lodge in London, one of five world centres for Girl Guides, stroll through the British Museum and go hiking in Scotland.
It would have been her first international trip. But after Air Canada cancelled their flight, they couldn’t find another one for 16 people on such short notice.
“All of us were so excited to go, and we were all crushed when it was cancelled,” Anderson said.
The trip is one of many caught in the crossfire after Air Canada cancelled thousands of flights starting last week amid a contract dispute.
Air Canada strike over, with tentative deal reached, airline and union say
Flight attendants were off the job on Saturday, following a 72-hour strike notice from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and a lockout notice by the airline. Negotiations for a new contract had stalled, with sticking points including wages and compensation for duties on the ground that CUPE says are unpaid under the current pay structure.
“We deeply, deeply regret the impact that this is having on your families and on your lives,” CUPE’s national secretary-treasurer, Candace Rennick, told Canadians at a news conference on Monday. “Our fight is not with you. We do not want to be here,” she said.
After the union held firm in the face of a back-to-work order from the federal government, negotiations resumed with the aid of a federal mediator, and a tentative deal was announced Tuesday morning.
“Unpaid work is over,” CUPE said in a statement about the tentative deal, which must be ratified by flight attendants. “We have reclaimed our voice and our power.”
CLC president calls use of Section 107 a direct attack on flight attendants’ right to strike
Air Canada apologized to Canadians for the flight cancellations in a statement confirming the tentative agreement.
“The suspension of our service is extremely difficult for our customers. We deeply regret and apologize for the impact on them of this labour disruption,” president and CEO Michael Rousseau said in the statement.
John Gradek, a McGill University faculty lecturer in aviation management, told CBC News that CUPE showed “the power of a union” in achieving a negotiated settlement despite the government invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code in an attempt to force flight attendants back to work.
“The CEO of Air Canada stated he never thought that the union would violate a 107,” Gradek said, seemingly referring to comments Rousseau made in an interview with Reuters on Monday where he said he was “amazed” the union was defying the order.
“That’s a sign that management was relying on a government intervention to settle a private enterprise disagreement,” he said.
“I think there will be some serious rethinking by the ministry and by the government about the use of [Section] 107 here on out.”
Although Air Canada flights are scheduled to resume on Tuesday evening, many are still expected to be impacted by the travel disruptions in the coming days.
That’s the situation that many B.C.-based paddlers are in, just one day before the start of the Canadian Dragon Boat Championships in Montreal. According to Dragon Boat BC, which co-ordinates with a number of clubs and teams, about 200 competitors stranded in Vancouver will be unable to take part due to cancelled flights unless they can find a new route.
“Some of our paddlers have received rebooking offers, but those offers … are going to get them into Montreal well after racing starts,” Dominic Lai, senior development and operations director at Dragon Boat BC, told CBC News. “Right now, approximately 60 per cent of the teams to 70 per cent of the teams aren’t here.”
This year’s event is “particularly important” because the qualifications for next year’s world championships are being decided this weekend, he said.
“It is something that’s beyond our control at this point.”
Lai said many of the hotels the group booked with have been able to offer flexibility, but other travellers are being hit with extra costs.
‘Nowhere to go’: Air travellers frustrated by cancellations
Anderson’s Girl Guides’ trip cost about $6,000 in total per person, and although they’re guaranteed a refund on the flight and expect to get some other money back, Anderson’s family said they’re still out roughly $4,000 in pre-paid event tickets, train tickets and hotel bookings, and they aren’t sure how much they’ll be able to recoup.
Meanwhile, Laurie Panagiotou told CBC News that when several family members had to back out of a trip to Athens due to Air Canada cancellations, it left them all “out a lot of money” from having to cancel hotels, ferries and rental cars.
“Who reimburses you for the heartache?” she said.
Air Canada cancellations have left Canadians stranded, including a family from Rockwood, Ont., now looking for a new way home from Scotland. Other travellers are trapped in airport limbo.
James Numfor and his family are trying to get home to Regina after returning from a funeral in Cameroon, but although Air Canada provided them with a hotel room the first night they were in Toronto, they’ve had to sleep in Pearson International Airport since Sunday.
“I’ve been through hell,” Numfor said. “Four adults and five kids, nowhere to go.”
Muhammad Haseeb took four buses from Winnipeg to Toronto after his Air Canada flight was cancelled. He’s been sleeping in Pearson for 30 hours since arriving, awaiting a flight on another airline to Pakistan.
“I feel sad for the flight attendants, because I believe they should get paid for what they’re doing, and they’re doing great, to be honest,” he said. “My love is for them.”
Some travellers told CBC News they wouldn’t fly Air Canada anymore — but Anderson’s mother, Andrea, acknowledged that it would be hard for them to avoid Canada’s largest airline completely in the future.
“Our hands are tied in Canada, we don’t have many flights we can choose from,” she said. “Eventually, I’m sure, our hands will be forced to have to use Air Canada.”
