Air Canada announced that it will restart operations on Sunday after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered an end to a strike by 10,000 flight attendants, which had brought the airline’s services to a standstill and disrupted peak summer travel.
In a statement, the airline said the CIRB directed it to resume flights and instructed all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to return to duty by 2:00 p.m. (EDT) on August 17, 2025.
Although flights will gradually resume Sunday evening, Air Canada cautioned that it will take “several days before operations return to normal.” The carrier also noted that some cancellations are expected to continue for the next seven to ten days.
The strike began early Saturday, when cabin crew members walked off the job in protest over wages and uncompensated ground duties, such as boarding assistance. Within hours, Canada’s Labour Policy Minister, Patty Hajdu, invoked section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to halt the strike and impose binding arbitration on both sides.
“The directive, under section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, and the CIRB’s order, ends the strike at Air Canada that resulted in the suspension of more than 700 flights,” the Montreal-based airline said.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing the flight attendants, has been pressing for wage increases and recognition of additional duties. The union had previously advised its members to stay on strike until the government issued a formal back-to-work order and had urged passengers to avoid the airport if booked on Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge flights.
While CUPE has not yet released an official response to the government directive, it earlier criticized Ottawa’s intervention, accusing the government of “rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted.”
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