Air Canada Flight Attendants Strike: Hundreds of Flights Cancelled, 130,000 Passengers Impacted

Ottawa (The Uttam Hindu): There has been chaos in Canada's largest airline, Air Canada, since Saturday morning. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled due to the sudden strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants (crew members) of the airline. This unexpected strike is directly affecting the passengers and it is estimated that the travel plans of more than 100,000 people may be disrupted by this.

According to the information, this strike is the result of a dispute over salary and working conditions. The union (Canadian Union of Public Employees) representing Air Canada's flight attendants has long been demanding that its members be paid not only for the time spent during the flight, but also for the time spent on the ground. This includes the time between flights and the time taken to board passengers on the plane.

The airline had offered a 38 per cent wage hike over the next four years, including a 25 per cent hike in the first year. However, the union rejected the offer as "inadequate" and called for a strike.

In view of the huge inconvenience being faced by passengers, Air Canada has requested Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to intervene in the matter. The airline wants the government to order both parties to "binding arbitration" to end this impasse. However, the employees' union has said that it will oppose any such move by the government.

Earlier on Friday, analysts at financial services firm TD Cowen had also warned the airline that the strike could cause huge losses to the airline's most important quarterly earnings, far outweighing any savings made on labour costs.