Air Canada will begin resuming flights after reaching a tentative agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
CUPE, which represents more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, said the two sides struck a deal after nine hours of talks with the assistance of a chief mediator appointed by the federal government.
According to CBC, the tentative deal secures Air Canada flight attendants at least 60 minutes of ground pay for their time before each flight, at a 50% rate of a flight attendant's hourly pay, with the rate increasing 5% every year.
The airline also proposed an immediate 12% pay increase for flight attendants with five or less service with Air Canada and an 8% pay increase for those who have worked there longer. Salaries would increase 3% in the second year, 2.3% in the third and 2.75% in the fourth.
The only thing flight attendants will need to vote on is the proposed salary increase.
“Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power,” CUPE said in a statement.
“When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”
Air Canada will begin resuming flights, with 155 scheduled on the first day, which began with a limited number of international flights.
Air Canada Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Mark Nasr said the airline is “laser-focused” on getting its customers moving again, but that there still may be delays.
“Restoring global operations will take up to ten days, as aircraft and crew are out of position,” he said.
“Additionally, mandatory maintenance checks are required, as aircraft have been on the ground for more than three days.
“Regrettably, during this period, some flights will be cancelled until the schedule is stabilised, and we’ll notify customers well in advance and provide options.”
To help travellers stay up to date with disruptions, Nasr said it introduced a new policy and created a dashboard on its website so people can track operations as Air Canada returns to normalcy.
“We’re working hard to fully restore their trust, starting by getting customers on their way again,” Nasr said.
“To do that, we will be introducing an exceptional policy tomorrow, towards covering transportation expenses which customers may have incurred to get to their destination during this disruption.”
Canadian jobs minister, Patty Hajdu, expressed relief that the two sides could come to an agreement on their own in a post to X.
