On 19 August 2025, Air Canada flight attendants announced their “tentative deal” with the airline, which will end their strike. This strike was over wages and groundwork, which affected travel for half a million travellers around the world.
The 10,000 flight attendants walked off after midnight Saturday, as their concerns over wages and unpaid ground work were not addressed by Air Canada.
Earlier, the attendant’s union leaders representing 10,000 workers said, “There’s no limit. We’re going to stay strong. We’re going to stay committed to making sure those workers can do the job they love doing and be able to afford a roof over their heads, to afford caring for their families,” said Mark Hancock. “And if it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it.”
After a series of talks with the airline, the flight attendants’ union reached a potential deal on Monday. Therefore, Air Canada flight attendants are to end the strike.
Air Canada Branch said in a statement, ” The strike has ended. We have a tentative agreement we will bring forward to you.”We are required to advise our membership that we must fully cooperate with the resumption of operations.”
Whereas the Union said, “Unpaid work is over,” “When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back – and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on,”
In addition to this, the strike was put on hold by the federal labour minister Patty Hajdu, which led to the arbitration between both sides.
Air Canada is hoping to “gradually start operations” after reaching the agreement. Whereas, for the travellers with cancelled flights, they will be able to get a full refund or credit for future travel.
Travellers are advised to only head to the airport if their booking has been confirmed.
Earlier, Air Canada has introduced an Exceptional Disruption Policy to cover transport costs for customers who have been affected by cancelled flights following recent strike action.
What do you think about the strike? Let us know in the comments below!
Aviation Reporter - A master's student at the University of Edinburgh, political scientist and journalist, Suhani contributes the latest trends and developments in the aviation industry to Travel Radar.
