Air Canada passengers in Calgary head home after strike ends

It was a busy day at the Calgary International Airport as stranded passengers scrambled to return home after Air Canada flight attendants agreed to return to work.

The airline said Tuesday that they are gradually resuming its operations after reaching a tentative deal with the union, with first flights scheduled to fly out Tuesday evening.

“We just decided we just had to come to the airport and beg them to work something out,” says Jasper, an Air Canada passenger from Australia.

The end of the strike was welcome news for international travellers who came to Banff for a music residency and had run out of money after staying an additional four days.

“It has been funny, because I would have come home with $100 left, and now I have got nothing,” Jasper says.

Other travellers had to be flown from Montreal to Calgary and then wait for a flight to Winnipeg on a competitor carrier, instead of taking their originally scheduled direct flight from Montreal to Winnipeg on Sunday.

The delay came on top of shelling out more money for a hotel.

“It’s warranted,” says Kayley Leurquin, travelling home to Winnipeg, about the flight attendants walking off the job. “I think that the lack of proper payment for flight attendants is criminal, and I support the reasons why.”

Air passenger rights advocate Gábor Lukács says it’s important for travellers not to accept a refund from Air Canada for their cancelled flights since it absolves the airline of their responsibilities.

“If you are going to be flying from Calgary to Toronto, and Air Canada cancelled that and told you ‘sorry, there are no other flights,’ then you find a flight on WestJet for the next day and you buy it, Air Canada will have to pay for that WestJet ticket,” he says.

Lukács says those travelling internationally may have more rights beyond being re-booked.

“Under the Montreal Convention, the airline may be liable for your meals and accommodation and lost wages,” he says.

One traveller from Spain who had their Alberta vacation extended is taking the delays in stride.

“The people are kind, and the country, we really love it,” says Chema.