Air Canada's statement on the result of its Flight Attendants’ strike vote

Air Canada acknowledged today the result of its flight attendants’ vote to provide the union with a mandate to strike should an agreement not be reached between the company and CUPE through the ongoing negotiations. Such a vote is a normal step in the negotiation process and does not mean that any disruption will take place.

Air Canada remains committed to the bargaining process and is eager to resume discussions, which CUPE had suspended during the vote. Air Canada is determined to reach a fair and equitable collective agreement that recognizes the contributions of its Flight Attendants and supports the competitiveness and long-term growth of the company.

Air Canada firmly believes that there is more than enough time to reach such an agreement and avoid disrupting the plans of hundreds of thousands of travellers. The 21-day cool off period expires at 12:01 am Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, August 16, meaning no job action can take place before that time at the earliest.

The negotiations cover flight attendants working for Air Canada's main operations and Air Canada Rouge. As a reminder, flight attendants working for Jazz and PAL, which operate Air Canada Express flights, are not affected by the negotiations or the strike vote.

July 25, 2025:

Air Canada's statement on its Flight Attendants concluding the conciliation process and seeking a strike vote

Air Canada acknowledged today the beginning of its flight attendants’ vote to provide the union with a strike mandate, should an agreement not be reached between the company and CUPE through the ongoing negotiations. Such a vote is a normal step in the negotiation process and does not mean that any disruption will take place. 

In fact, a strike cannot take place before a 21-day cooling-off period, after the 60-day conciliation period has expired. For more information on the bargaining process please see here.

Air Canada is committed to the bargaining process and remains fully available to continue negotiations towards a fair and equitable collective agreement with CUPE that recognizes the contributions of its Flight Attendants and supports the competitiveness and long-term growth of the company. 

May 15, 2025:

Air Canada today provided the following comment in response to the announcement by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

Air Canada today provided the following comment in response to the announcement by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the airline’s flight attendants, that it intends to seek Government of Canada assisted conciliation in its ongoing contract negotiations.

Air Canada has been working hard and in good faith to reach a new collective agreement with CUPE since the beginning of the year, prior to the expiry of the collective agreement with the company on March 31, 2025. Air Canada remains committed to achieving a fair, negotiated agreement with CUPE under the normal bargaining process set out under the Canada Labour Code. For this reason, customers can continue to book and travel with confidence on Air Canada. 

Under the Labour Code, a party seeking conciliation must first file a notice seeking conciliation. There is then generally a period of up to 15 days before a conciliator is appointed, after which conciliated negotiations will continue, typically for a period of 60 days. If no agreement is reached, this is followed by a 21-day cooling-off period. 

Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge employ a combined total of approximately 10,400 cabin crew members based at the airline’s four largest hub airports in Canada: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary.