Air Canada reaches tentative deal
Posted September 20, 2011 12:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – A tentative deal has been struck between Air Canada and its 6,800 flight attendants.
Union President Jeff Taylor says “the union’s executive committee will recommend that its members accept this tentative agreement.”
Talks broke off last night between the two sides. If a deal had not been reached, the unionized staff would have walked off the job at 9:01 p.m. Had that happened, the federal government would have ordered them back to work.
Travellers are still advised to check their flight schedule before heading to the airport.
Travel Expert Claire Newell says phase one of the impending Air Canada strike has already been enacted, which means schedule changes are likely.
“Figure out which flight you’re on and then look up some options,” she says. “The other thing that changed is that Air Canada passengers, only up until Sept. 21, were allowed to make changes without penalty, but that date has been extended to Sept. 26.”
“I do know that 168 flights in the Air Canada Jazz/Air Canada Express system have been cancelled but they’ve created 116 flights, and they’ve changed either the gauge or the timing for 44 flights.”
She says Air Canada Express uses Jazz flight attendants, who use a different union that is not engaged in the contract dispute. If the strike goes through, Air Canada says it will operate a partial schedule and will waive re-booking fees.
