Air Canada travelers brace for impact: What to know if your flight is canceled

Key Points

• Air Canada is facing a potential strike by flight attendants beginning Saturday, which could lead to the cancellation of almost all scheduled flights, affecting around 130,000 passengers daily.
• Passengers whose flights are canceled will be eligible for a full refund and may be offered alternative travel options, although immediate rebooking cannot be guaranteed due to high demand over the summer.
• The union representing flight attendants voted overwhelmingly, with 99.7% in favor of a strike, citing unresolved issues regarding pay and work conditions after eight months of negotiations.
• Both the airline and the union are at an impasse over compensation, with the airline proposing a 38% total compensation increase over four years, which the union believes does not adequately address inflation and unpaid work concerns.

Summer travelers are facing uncertainty as the clock winds down on a possible strike by Air Canada flight attendants, which the airline said would force it to cancel almost all of its scheduled flights as soon as Saturday.

The Canadian carrier said it was suspending its schedule and trying to get passengers booked with other airlines to limit disruptions, but already hundreds of flights have been called off since Thursday, leaving travelers stranded and scrambling during the busy summer travel season. By Friday's end, 500 total flights were expected to be canceled.

Both the union that represents about 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants and the airline say disagreements over key issues, including pay raises, have brought contract talks to a standstill.

A complete shutdown of the country’s largest airline threatens to impact about 130,000 people a day. Here’s what to know about the cancellations and your rights as a passenger:

Impacted passengers will be notified

Air Canada said it would reach out via email or text to let customers know if their flights are canceled.

By late Friday afternoon, Air Canada had called off at least 128 domestic flights and 194 international flights that were scheduled to depart on Friday and Saturday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. On Thursday, 18 domestic flights and four international flights were canceled.

Flight attendants are threatening to strike at 1 a.m. EDT Saturday if they don't have a new contract by then. If the walkout happens, the airline said it would suspend all of its Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights, but not the regional Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines.

How long the planes will be grounded remains to be seen. Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr has said it could take a week to fully restart operations once a deal has been reached.

You have options if your flight is canceled

Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada.

The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full “due to the summer travel peak.”

Passengers with the flexibility to reschedule their travel plans can also rebook their flights for dates between Aug. 21 and Sept. 12 at no additional cost, Air Canada said.

The airline says that under federal regulations, flight cancellations caused by a strike or lockout are considered outside the carrier's control, meaning customers are not eligible for compensation for food and lodging expenses incurred during the labor dispute.

Flight disruptions stretch beyond Canada's borders

The impact of Air Canada's flight cancellations are spilling over into other parts of the world. Air Canada has service to more than 85 airports worldwide, and it operates 430 daily flights between Canada and the U.S. alone.

It is also part of the Star Alliance, a global network of major airlines that offer coordinated schedules and other travel benefits.

United Airlines, one of its Star Alliance partners, said it is stepping in to help passengers who might be stranded at airports in cities across Canada: Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Québec City, Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary and Toronto.

On its travel alert page, United said it was waiving fees for eligible customers to rebook travel on a United flight departing through Aug. 27. United said the new flights must be between the same cities as the original tickets.

Most of the union voted to strike

Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal.

By the end of July, the union put it to a vote, and 99.7% approved a strike. The union on Wednesday gave Air Canada a 72-hour strike notice. The airline responded with a so-called lockout notice, saying it would prevent the flight attendants from working on Saturday.

The union said Friday it rejected a proposal from the airline to enter a binding arbitration process, which would prevent flight attendants from walking off the job and allow a mediator to decide the terms of the new contract. The union says it prefers to negotiate directly with the airline on a deal that its members can then vote on.

Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's head of human resources, said the company was weighing all of its options, including asking for government intervention.

Negotiations break down over pay

Both the union and the airline say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren’t in the air.

The airline said its latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn't go far enough because of inflation.

Vancouver-based flight attendant Henly Larden, who has worked for Air Canada since 2017, said the union also won't back down on its goal to get flight attendants paid for the time they're on the ground. Larden, 33, called it a "very archaic expectation” to work for free during the boarding process.

“Just because it's a past practice doesn't mean here in 2025 that it's OK or it's right, and we want to change that going forward,” she said.