Air Canada suspends third quarter & full year guidance due to strike

Air Canada is suspending its guidance for third quarter and full-year 2025 operating results due to the effects of the labour disruption by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the resulting suspension of all flights, the company announced early Monday (Aug. 18). 

On Sunday (Aug. 17), the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) directed Air Canada to resume airline operations and for all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to resume their duties by 14:00 EDT. 

The CIRB further ordered that the term of the collective agreement between Air Canada and CUPE that expired on March 31, 2025, be extended to include the period beginning on April 1, 2025 and ending on the day on which the new collective agreement between the parties comes into effect.

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The CIRB also imposed final binding arbitration to resolve the outstanding terms of the collective agreement. The arbitration procedure would be addressed in the coming days and weeks.

But yesterday, CUPE “illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy the direction from the CIRB to return to work,” Air Canada outlined in a press release. 

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Given the effects of the labour disruption and related impact on operations, "Air Canada is suspending its guidance for third quarter and full-year 2025 operating results provided in its July 28, 2025 news release," the company said. 

Air Canada now aims to restart operations Monday evening—even as leaders of CUPE remain firm in their refusal to end the strike, which began early Saturday, without reaching a new contract agreement.

More than 10,000 of Air Canada’s flight attendants are seeking improved wages and compensation for work they do before flights take off and after they land.

This is a developing story. 

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