Calgary travellers bracing for Air Canada disruptions amid labour dispute

Air Canada passengers are bracing for turbulence as the airline announced it will be cancelling flights during the summer travel season amid a labour dispute between the company and its flight attendants.

The company said Wednesday that over the course of the next coming days they will be gradually suspending Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights.

The move comes after the union representing Air Canada flight attendants issued a strike notice, prompting the company to then issue a lockout notice.

For travellers coming in and out of Alberta, they’re left scrambling wondering what the next couple of days will hold for them. 

“This uncertainty, we don’t know what is going to happen on Saturday,” says passenger David Corcoran. “I don’t know to be either pre-emptive and try to book another flight, or wait until Saturday and see how we do.”

Air Canada says the first round of flights will be cancelled on Thursday, with more to come on Friday.

“I’m supposed to be flying out Tuesday, I have no idea what is going to happen,” says traveller Colin Dickey. “Subsequent to that I have three more Air Canada flights booked in the next week round-trip. I don’t know what is going to happen with that.”

Some travel agencies in the province now say they’re being inundated with calls from concerned travellers worried their vacation plans can be hampered.

“We received a good number of calls, I would say almost 30 to 35 calls in a few hours,” said Zubayer Siddiquee at Airlineticketcentre.ca.

Air Canada says affected customers that have had their flights cancelled will be notified and receive a full refund. 

But for those whose flights may be a connection to another transportation mode like a cruise, a refund may not save their travel plans. 

“That individual trip cancellation interruption plan will help you with that missed connection insurance,” says Will McAleer, executive director at the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada. “That’ll help you make sure that if you can’t go you are at least going to get some of your money back.”

CityNews reached out to several other airlines to see if they are adapting their operations.

Porter says they have seen an increase in “close-in bookings” that could be linked to what they are calling “travel uncertainty,” while WestJet and Flair say they are closely monitoring the situation.

Air Canada flight attendants voted 99.7 per cent in favour of a strike mandate last week, which is effected for 60 days.

The union has said its main sticking points revolve around what it calls flight attendants’ “poverty wages” and unpaid labour when planes aren’t in the air.

Air Canada, a component of CUPE, and the airline have been in contract talks since the beginning of the year, and the strike mandate comes after the airline and union concluded a conciliation process without reaching a deal.