Nearly 100% of Air Canada’s flights are operating again; vote starts next week

Nearly 100 per cent of Air Canada’s flights were operating again on Friday (Aug. 22) following the end of the flight attendants strike.

According to an online dashboard tracking the airline's service resumption, 98 per cent of domestic flights are expected to operate over the next 24 hours, along with 99 per cent of U.S. flights.

The airline’s international flights have also caught up, with 99 per cent of planned flights expected to fly.

As far as customer numbers go, 142,019 passengers are expected to travel in the next 24 hours, Friday’s figures show.

The airline initially said it may take between seven to 10 days for service to normalize across Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge.

"Air Canada's 40,000 coworkers, with their exceptional commitment and expertise, have allowed us to restore operations ahead of plan. We now expect to be operating very close to our normal schedule tomorrow. We deeply apologize to all customers whose travel plans were disrupted, and we're committed to making things right for all customers — particularly those who were stranded during their trip," said Mark Nasr, Air Canada's executive vice president and chief operations officer, in a statement yesterday, 

Speaking with PAX earlier this week, Nasr said there are plans to send extra aircraft to destinations to bring stranded customers home, but only once a full schedule materializes.

“As soon as we get climb up that curve, over the next several days, we will add extra capacity,” he said Tuesday, suggesting that Cuba may be prioritized due to a lack of accommodation options there.

Goodwill policy update 

Air Canada will also reimburse customers for out-of-pocket transportation expenses they incurred when the airline couldn’t provide alternate arrangements—covering tickets for plane, train, bus, or ferry tickets purchased independently.

This goodwill policy was update yesterday to also include hotel and meal expenses. See details here.

Following this week's shutdown, which disrupted the flights of an estimated 500,000 customers, Air Canada faces a long runway toward recovery. But Nasr remains optimistic.

“It starts with getting planes back in the sky and getting customers moving again,” he said. “We've got to return every customer to their origin, or allow them to get on their trip that they had booked. And it will continue from there.”

Vote next week

As previously reported, Air Canada's flight attendants will have a 10-day voting period starting next Wednesday to decide on the tentative agreement reached following last weekend's three-day strike.

Voting will take place from August 27 to September 6, with results expected to be made public within 24 hours of the vote closing.

READ MORE: Strike amnesty for AC FAs; CUPE pushes for wage edge over Air Transat; members voice concerns

If the proposed contract fails to gain majority support, negotiations will likely resume with a three-day mediation period, followed by arbitration if necessary. The vote will focus solely on the hourly wage component of the four-year deal, which includes overall pay increases ranging from 16 to 20 per cent, depending on an employee’s seniority and role.

Less experienced staff would receive a 12 per cent raise in the first year, while those with more years on the job would see an 8 per cent increase.

Currently, Air Canada flight attendants earn $30 per hour, while those working for its budget subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, start at $26.42 per hour.

Other elements of the contract—such as enhancements to pensions, vacation time, sick leave, per diem rates, and ground pay for duties performed before departure—are not part of this vote, as per an agreement reached during mediation.

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