The Ottawa Airport Authority is urging travellers to verify their flights will still take off before coming to the airport, as job action by flight attendants at
Air Canada
looms this weekend.
The airline has begun gradually cancelling flights in advance of the job action, which could begin Saturday.
“Passengers who have a flight booked with
Air Canada
/Air Canada Rouge in the coming days are advised to check their airline’s website, and any communications sent to them from the airline, for options to cancel or reschedule their flight,” the authority said.
Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants are each
warning travellers
that the two parties are at a critical point in their negotiations.
In a post to the social media site X, the airline said it is beginning to prepare for a walkout by the flight attendants, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
“To address ongoing labour uncertainty following strike notice by the (attendants) we will begin implementing our contingency plan to gradually begin an orderly wind down of operations.”
The union representing flight attendants says it has served the company with a 72-hour strike notice. The union said the airline has issued its own plan to lock out employees early Saturday morning.
The CUPE union announced the walkout plan early Wednesday, saying the strike notice had been issued at 12:58 a.m.
“This decision was not made lightly, but it is necessary,” the union wrote in a bargaining update. “We are ready.”
CUPE officials said that the talks had been progressing, but broke down when it came to wages and unpaid work.
The union notice came hours after the airline said negotiations with the union had reached an “impasse.”
The airline said in a news release that the union had submitted a counteroffer that seeks “unsustainable” and “exorbitant” increases to compensation, and also rejected an offer by the company to enter arbitration with a third party.
The union, in its bargaining update, also said the company had issued a lockout notice at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the lockout set to begin at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Air Canada said on its website the lockout notice was issued to “mitigate the strike’s impact and allow (an orderly shutdown.”
The notification said “Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights will be gradually suspended over the next 72 hours.” Air Canada Express and PAL flights are not affected.
The airline said customers “whose flights are cancelled will be notified and can obtain a full refund.”
Customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified, and they will be eligible for a full refund, which can be obtained online at Air Canada’s website or through the Air Canada mobile app.
“Customers without confirmed flights should not go to the airport,” the airline said.
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