Air Canada strike ends; pay deal and other issues that saw flights in the skies

Air Canada flights resumed on Tuesday, August 19 after the airline and the union representing its flight attendants reached a tentative pay agreement, ending a nearly four-day strike that disrupted travel for more than 500,000 passengers.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents more than 10,000 flight attendants, announced the breakthrough early Tuesday, nine hours after mediated talks began. The agreement is subject to ratification by union members.

The airline has cautioned that restoring full service will take seven to ten days due to aircraft and crew being out of position. Some flights will still be cancelled until the schedule stabilizes.

Key terms of the tentative deal

According to CBC News, the agreement secures two major wins for flight attendants:

• Ground Pay for Pre-Flight Duties: Flight attendants will now receive at least 60 minutes of ground pay before each flight, starting at 50 per cent of their hourly rate, with that rate rising 5 per cent each year. This provision ends years of unpaid work during boarding and waiting times.
  
  
• Immediate Pay Hikes: Staff with five years or less of service will get an immediate 12 per cent raise, while those with longer tenure will receive 8 per cent.
  
  
• Structured Salary Increases: Over the following years, salaries will continue to rise by 3 per cent in the second year, 2.5 per cent in the third, and 2.75 per cent in the fourth.
  

As per the BBC, the deal has not been fully disclosed, although the union said it achieves "transformational change" for workers and the industry.

What is ground pay?

According to the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, Air Canada flight attendants are only paid once a flight is in the air, leaving them uncompensated for boarding, safety checks, delays, and deplaning. CUPE, the union representing attendants, argues this amounts to an average of 35 hours of unpaid work per month.

The airline has proposed compensating ground duties at 50 per cent of the regular hourly rate, but the union insists on 100 per cent.

How is it implemented elsewhere?

CBC News reports that some Canadian carriers, like Porter Airlines and Pascan Aviation, already compensate flight attendants for boarding duties or pay full salary for ground tasks.

In the US, Delta introduced boarding pay in 2022, while recent labour agreements at American Airlines and Alaska Airlines require payment to begin at boarding. United Airlines crews are pushing for similar provisions after rejecting a tentative deal.

Why flight attendants went on strike

The strike began on Saturday, August 16, after CUPE rejected Air Canada’s initial contract offer, which the union said was “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage.”

The airline’s proposal did not address unpaid hours, leaving attendants uncompensated for several tasks outside their flying time.

More than 10,000 staff walked out, grounding hundreds of flights and stranding passengers across Canada and internationally. Air Canada typically operates around 700 flights a day.

Escalation and government pressure

The dispute escalated when the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled the strike “unlawful”. CUPE refused, accusing the government of “caving to corporate pressure.”

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu also said in an X statement that she was glad the two sides could work out a deal independently.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "relieved" to hear about the agreement. In an X statement, he said, "It is my hope that this 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".