“A challenging week”: Travel pros welcome end of Air Canada strike, but call out unpaid work & chaos

The Canadian travel industry is breathing a sigh of relief today (Aug. 19) after Air Canada and the union that represents its 10,400 flight attendants reached a tentative agreement, ending a stressful strike that impacted an estimated 500,000 travellers.

In an email to PAX, Suzanne Acton-Gervais, president of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA), welcomed the long-awaited update.

“A swift return to full operations now is essential to prevent further disruption for travellers and the travel advisors assisting them,” Acton-Gervais wrote. “Travel advisors across Canada have shown incredible dedication during this challenging period. They have been working tirelessly to help clients navigate cancellations and secure alternative arrangements. Their expertise has helped travellers manage a very difficult and chaotic situation with limited available options.”

When Air Canada's flight attendants walked off the job early Saturday morning (Aug. 16), grounding the company’s airplanes, much of the public attention turned to the airline, its union, and the federal government.

READ MORE: “I feel like I’m not getting anywhere”: The overlooked toll of the Air Canada strike on travel advisors

But behind the scenes, Canadian travel advisors have been bearing the brunt of the disruption, working around the clock – unpaid, in many cases – to help their stranded clients.

As PAX reported yesterday, the responsibility for logistics, reassurance, and real-time communication has fallen on many travel professionals, who have supported customers to the best of their ability, with limited information.

READ MORE: “I feel like I’m not getting anywhere”: The overlooked toll of the Air Canada strike on travel advisors

“Throughout this crisis, travel advisors have continually demonstrated their value,” said Acton-Gervais. “Under extremely challenging conditions, with mass flight cancellations and limited options during the peak travel season, they have done everything possible to support travellers.”

ACTA’s president noted how these efforts have made “a meaningful difference,” and will continue to make a difference as Air Canada restarts its flights – a process that is expected to begin tonight (Aug. 19).

“The end is in sight”

Customers, however, are being advised that the airline’s return to full, regular service may require seven-to-ten days as aircraft and crew are out of position.

"During this process, some flights will be cancelled over the next seven to ten days until the schedule is stabilized," Air Canada wrote in a press release Tuesday.

Only customers with confirmed bookings whose flights are shown as operating should go to the airport, the airline said.

READ MORE: “The strike has ended”: Air Canada & union reach tentative agreement; airline to begin resuming flights

Air Canada is also offering options to those with cancelled flights, including obtaining a full refund or receiving a credit for future travel.

“I think the initial feeling across the travel trade this morning is relief and exhaustion.  It has been a very long few days for most travel advisors as they worked tirelessly to assist our customers,” said Jamie Angus-Milton, president and managing partner at Uniglobe Carefree Travel & Carefree Connections in Saskatoon, Sask.

“It will continue to be a challenging week, but at least the end is in sight.  We are thrilled that a tentative deal has been reached and we will work with Air Canada to reduce the impact to travellers over the coming days.”

Empathy for strikers, frustration with fallout 

Zeina Gedeon, president and CEO of Trevello Travel Group, said she is “very pleased” to see the two sides come to a tentative deal.

But the impact of the disruption can’t be ignored, she pointed out.

“While we fully support fair compensation for all employees, the timing of this disruption unfortunately left hundreds of customers stranded and travel advisors scrambling to find suitable flights home,” Gedeon wrote in an email to PAX. “The fallout from rebookings and customer dissatisfaction is huge.”

“We sincerely hope that in the future, agreements can be reached without having these disruptions, sparing customers, advisors, hotel suppliers from having to deal with the impact of these challenges.”

Unfinished business

Ajax, ON-based Jamie Badowski, a travel advisor with The Travel Agent Next Door, is on the same page.

While the news of Air Canada resuming flights is a relief, she believes it's unfortunate that the situation had to escalate this far.

“I feel so much better today, knowing that flights are coming. But there’s still more to go,” Badowski told PAX over the phone.

Badowski, like many of her peers, has been trying to get her clients home from a vacation in the Caribbean that was supposed to end over the weekend. 

Her group of 12 – consisting of grandparents, parents, and young children – flew to the Dominican Republic on August 10 and has been forced to extend their stay by a week after their return flight to Toronto was cancelled.

This unwanted extension, she said, is costing her clients an additional $10,000 USD – some of which will be covered by insurance (but not all).

Air Canada rebooked her clients on a return flight for August 23, but Badowski is trying to get them home sooner — particularly one group member with a heart condition who is not doing well.

Questions remain about whether Air Canada will deploy additional flights to the Caribbean, and other regions around the world, to repatriate stranded customers — and whether the airline will cover expenses such as extra hotel stays incurred due to the strike.

The “good news” for Badowski is that she can finally start her own holiday – time she had set aside this week to help her daughter prepare for university.

Despite the hassles, Badowski and her clients support the flight attendants, which have been fighting for fair wages and compensation for "ground time" (the work they perform before departure and after passengers leave the plane).

“We have to respect what they’re fighting for. No one wants to work for free,” said Badowski. “I think this situation has opened up some eyes.”

She hopes the Canadian government will legislate rules around fair pay for flight attendants “so we don’t have another strike like this,” she said.

That’s certainly a possibility. Yesterday, Minister of Jobs Patty Hajdu announced the launch of a probe on unpaid work in Canada’s airline sector.

The consultations will look at whether flight attendants are being paid in a manner that, at minimum, meets the requirements of the Canada Labour Code, reads a press release.

The government said it will be reaching out to "targeted stakeholders" to begin the engagement process.

Caught in the crossfire

This may be viewed as a positive step forward, but some travel advisors are still grappling with lingering anger and frustration.

One agent who contacted PAX said they “worked endlessly with anxious and frustrated clients” while spending “endless hours volunteering and being on hold” to help them.

“I got caught in the crossfire of this unprecedented situation,” said the advisor, who requested that their name not be used. “In my over 40 years in travel, we have gone through and seen so much.”

The advisor has decided to “take a personal stand” and avoid booking with Air Canada “for the foreseeable future.”

“This whole situation was mishandled at every level, and those of us who serve on the front lines deserved far better,” the advisor wrote. “Where is the compensation for our weekend work? For the hours we spent calming anxious travellers?”

“A generic apology means nothing in the face of what we endured. Shame on those in power for letting it come to this.”

"Unpaid work is over”

In a statement Tuesday, the Air Canada Component of CUPE, which represents the flight attendants, said it must now “fully cooperate” with resumption of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge’s flights.

Details of the agreement are not yet known and it must still undergo a ratification vote by the membership.

"Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power," the union wrote in a press release.

Air Canada and CUPE were in talks over a new contract for flight attendants since the expiration of their previous 10-year agreement in March.

The strike kicked in early Saturday, but within hours, the federal government invoked a provision of the Canadian Labour Code to mandate binding arbitration via the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).

CUPE rejected the move initiated by Minister Hajdu, accusing Air Canada of anticipating government intervention and failing to negotiate in good faith.

Over the weekend, as flights remained grounded, and as picketing lines unfolded at Canadian airports, the CIRB deemed the union’s refusal to comply with the back-to-work directive “unlawful.” 

However, despite this, union officials vowed to continue the strike - even "if it means folks like me going to jail," said Mark Hancock, national president of CUPE at a press conference. 

Negotiations between Air Canada and the union picked back up on Monday evening with the help of mediator William Kaplan who, notably, helped with the Canada Post labour negotiations.

The strike marked the first job action by Air Canada flight attendants since the 1980s.

They “did their best”

Christine James, vice president for Canada at Travel Leaders Network, called airline’s restart a “huge sense of relief.”

“It goes without saying that it has been an extremely stressful few days for our entire network membership and of course their clients who were impacted by the strike,” said James, who was personally caught up in the work stoppage after her return flight to Toronto, from Orlando, was cancelled on Saturday.

Although James was fortunate to be rebooked on an alternate Air Canada flight home, she acknowledges that others weren’t as lucky and remained stranded in destinations.

“Under these unprecedented circumstances, I believe that both Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations did their best to keep their industry partners updated and informed,” James said.

Jane Clementino, senior vice president and general manager of TRAVELSAVERS Canada, was also happy to see the news of a pending agreement.

This week served as a strong reminder of the worth travel advisors bring, she said.

“We know the strength of the advisor’s role and the tremendous value they deliver in shaping their clients' ultimate travel experience. The importance of their expertise moves to a crucial level when there is any significant travel disruption, so I want to say thank you to all of our advisors for your professionalism, wisdom, and ultimate care for each traveller,” Clementino told PAX.

She also thanked Air Canada for acknowledging “the incredible work and effort of the advisor during this difficult period. They deserve it!" 

The key takeaway

The key takeaway, said Rocky Racco, CEO of TTI Travel, is that “everyone should expect to be compensated fairly for the work and value they bring to the table.”

“This was a key point for the flight attendants, and it should be a key point for the travel agency community,” Racco told PAX. “We have far too long been doing extra work for the airlines and not being fairly compensated. This gets more amplified during a work stoppage.”

At the same time, many resorts and hotels “stepped up and looked after our clients” by enabling them to extend their stays for nothing extra or at “very reasonable rates,” Racco noted.

“I’ve always said, you truly know who your partners are when you need them most!” he said. 

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