The Canadian airline has announced that it plans to resume flights today, after the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) acted on a directive from Patty Hajdu, federal Minister of Employment and Families, referring the airline’s contract negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to final binding arbitration. The directive, under section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, and the CIRB’s order, end the strike at Air Canada that led to the suspension of more than 700 flights.
The CIRB has ordered Air Canada to resume its air operations and all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to resume their duties by 2:00 p.m. EDT on 17 August 2025. The CIRB further ordered that the term of the collective agreement between Air Canada and CUPE, which expired on 31 March 2025, be extended to include the period from 1 April 2025 to the date on which the new collective agreement between the parties comes into effect. The CIRB also imposed binding final arbitration to resolve the outstanding terms of the collective agreement. The arbitration proceedings will be addressed in the coming days and weeks.
Because the airline had suspended operations at 1:30 a.m. EDT on August 16, the aircraft and crew are off schedule. The restart of operations will begin immediately, with the first flights tonight, but Air Canada expects it will take several days before operations return to normal.
