Air Canada cancels 500 flights ahead of flight attendant strike

Travellers deplane after arriving on an Air Canada Express flight, Ontario, Canada 11 August, 2025.
Reuters

Air Canada announced on Thursday that it expects to cancel several dozen flights by the end of the day and about 500 flights by Friday due to a planned strike by its unionised flight attendants on Saturday.

Mark Nasr, the airline’s chief operations officer, said the complexity of Air Canada’s network — operating more than 250 aircraft to more than 65 countries, requires the company to begin winding down service now.

The strike threatens Canada’s tourism sector during peak summer travel and puts pressure on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government, which has been asked to intervene and impose arbitration.

Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, serve roughly 130,000 passengers daily and are the foreign carrier with the most flights to the U.S.

United Airlines, a code-share partner, issued a travel waiver to help passengers adjust their plans. Restarting operations, Nasr said, could take up to a week, emphasizing that the airline cannot simply pause and resume flights at the push of a button.

Canadian Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu urged the airline and union to resume negotiations to prevent disruptions.

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