BURST
Air Canada will gradually restart flights Tuesday evening after reaching a mediated agreement with its striking flight attendants’ union.
The airline on Tuesday morning said the return to full, regular service for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge may require seven to 10 days after being grounded since last week, and some flights will be cancelled during that period until the schedule is stabilized.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled since Thursday after 10,000 of its flight attendants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) served a strike notice.
“Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking,” chief executive Michael Rousseau said on the company’s website . “Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days.
The carrier said only customers with confirmed bookings whose flights are shown as operating, which can be checked online, should go to the airport.
It said it will still offer a full refund or travel credit to passengers whose flights are cancelled, and it will also offer to rebook customers on other airlines, although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season.
The tentative deal with the union was reached through a process overseen by a mutually agreed-upon mediator, William Kaplan, who is CUPE’s chief mediator.
“Unpaid work is over,” CUPE said on its website . “When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”
The union also said members must fully co-operate with Air Canada’s resumption of operations.
Details of the agreement were not disclosed, and the deal will still need to be voted on and ratified by members.
• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com