What to know as Air Canada flights grounded and attendants strike

Flight attendants for Air Canada say they’re not ending the strike – despite a federal back-to-work order on Monday, throwing the airline’s plans to resume flights up in the air.

The strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants for Canada’s largest airline has stranded tens of thousands of passengers since flights were grounded on Saturday.

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) told the airline’s staff to return to work and said that an expired collective agreement would be extended until a new one was agreed.

But the union said members would be willing to pay fines, or even face jail time, rather than return to work.

“If Air Canada thinks planes will be flying this afternoon, they’re sorely mistaken,” said Canadian Union of Public Employees (Cupe) president Mark Hancock.

Here’s what you need to know.

About 500,000 customers’ flights have been cancelled as a result of the flight, Air Canada said Monday.

The airline had wanted to resume flights as soon as possible, but with flight attendants still striking, it remains to be seen when they will take off again.

The company already said it expected several days of disruption before scheduling returned to normal.

The airline had previously warned that some flights would be cancelled over the next seven to 10 days and said that it “deeply regrets” customer inconvenience.

It said that those affected would be contacted and provided a new itinerary.

The airline added that customers in Canada were not eligible for compensation for delayed or cancelled flights because the strike action was out of its control.

On Monday morning, CIRB told staff to return to return to work by 14:00 EDT (18:00 GMT) and said that a collective agreement that expired on 31 March would be extended until a new one was agreed, Air Canada said.

But hours later, the union said it would defy the order.

Mr Hancock, the union president, said they are willing to accept any penalties for its refusal to comply, including monetary fines and jail time.

It is unclear what those consequences will be.

Flight attendants gave a 72-hour strike notice earlier last week, after contract talks reached an impasse. Soon afterwards, Air Canada began delaying and cancelling some flights.

By Saturday, Air Canada said it was forced to suspend “all operations” after workers voted to go on strike.

With the strike in effect, the airline announced it would halt flights on its Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge service.

The airline, which operates in 64 countries and has a fleet of 259 aircraft, warned that a “complete cessation of flying” would begin on Saturday, if the labour issues were not resolved. Air Canada Express flights, which carry about 20% of Air Canada’s daily customers, are not affected.

Upon receiving the strike notice, Air Canada issued its own 72-hour lock-out notice and began winding down operations, delaying and cancelling flights over those three days.

Chief Operations Officer Mark Nasr explained the airline’s system was complex and not something “we can start or stop at the push of a button”.

The Cupe union said the company was not addressing key issues such as wages and unpaid work.

It said it bargained in good faith with the airline for more than eight months.

The airline said it recently offered flight attendants a 38% increase in total compensation over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year.

But the union said the offer was “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage” and would leave flight attendants unpaid for some hours of work, including waiting at airports ahead of flights or during the boarding process.

They said wages had not kept up with inflation, so Air Canada’s suggested pay increase was “in effect, a pay cut”.

Almost all of the attendants – 99.7% – voted to strike earlier this month. The company asked the government to intervene.

Government representatives had facilitated some of the negotiations already, but the carrier went further and asked Canada’s jobs minister, Patty Hajdu, to refer the matter for binding arbitration.

As the cancellations mounted, the Canadian government used its powers to force the airline and the union into binding arbitration, in an effort to minimise disruptions for travel and the economy.

On Saturday, Hajdu ordered Air Canada and Cupe into binding arbitration by invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code.

“Despite significant supports from the government, these parties have been unable to resolve their differences in a timely manner,” Hadju said.

“I am exercising this authority because it is critical to maintaining and securing industrial peace, protecting Canadians and promoting conditions to resolve the dispute.”

Cupe has responded by accusing the of Liberal Party of “violating our charter rights”. They allege that forcing an end to the strike will “ensure unresolved issues will continue to worsen by kicking them down the road”.

In binding arbitration, an independent third party sets the terms of a contract in an agreement that is legally enforceable.

The union said in a statement on Friday that it had requested that Hajdu not intervene and, instead, allow “the parties to reach a resolution through free and fair negotiations, without undue interference”.

There was growing pressure from other parts of Canada, as well. The Board of Trade for the Toronto region had called for government intervention, while the province of Newfoundland and Labrador released a statement describing the impact of a strike as “catastrophic” for the tourism industry during the summer season.

Air Canada has said it will notify passengers if there is a change to the flight’s scheduled departure time.

Customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and will receive a full refund, the airline said. The company has also made arrangements with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide customers alternative travel options.

If it’s a round trip, return flights are not automatically cancelled in case the passengers reaches the destination.

Those bookings can be cancelled with no fees.