Air Canada flights have been canceled while the on -board strike is looming

Toronto (AP) – More than 620 Air Canada Flights, many of whom, international trips, were canceled while the stopwatch was getting closer A possible strike by on -board agentsLeave travelers blocked in the world and rush during the tip of the summer trip season.

The fight against the bitter contract between the largest airline in Canada and the union representing 10,000 of its on -board agents intended on Friday while the union refused the airline’s request to conclude an arbitration led by the government, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third -party mediator to decide on the terms of a new contract.

The on -board agents were ready to leave work around 1 a.m. on the HA on Saturday. About the same time, Air Canada said that it would start to lock the airport’s on -board agents. Actions threaten to Impact approximately 130,000 travelers per day.

Air Canada said more than 623 flights were canceled on Friday evening, affecting more than 100,000 people.

Federal Minister of Jobs Patty Hajdu met both the airline and the union on Friday evening and urged them to work stronger to conclude a “once and for all” agreement.

“It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made. Canadians are counting on both parties to deploy their best efforts,” said Hajdu in a statement published on social networks.

Hugh Pouliot, Union spokesperson, said the Union had a meeting with Hajdu and Air Canada representatives earlier Friday evening.

“CUPE is committed to the mediator to relay our desire to continue to negotiate-despite the fact that Air Canada has not countered our last two offers since Tuesday,” he said in an email. “We are here to negotiate an agreement, not to continue on strike.”

The Canadian carrier has already started to cancel flights on Thursday. He plans Cancel Almost all of its flights by Saturday morning. A complete closure threatens to have an impact on 130,000 people a day, and this could affect some 25,000 Canadians per day which could become blocked abroad.

When the airline said it said it was starting, it was “gradually reduced” to most operations, 18 indoor flights and four international flights were canceled.

The Montreal resident, Alex Laroche, 21, and his girlfriend have saved since Christmas for their European holidays. Now, their $ 8,000 trip with non -refundable accommodation is at stake while they are waiting to hear Air Canada on the fate of their flight on Saturday evening to Nice, France.

Laroche said he was planning to reserve new flights with a different carrier, but he said that most of them were almost full and more than double the $ 3,000 they paid for their original tickets.

“At this point, it’s just a waiting game,” he said.

Laroche said that he was initially upset by the union’s decision to strike, but that he had a change of heart after reading the main problems at the center of contractual negotiations, including the issue of wages.

“Their salary is barely habitable,” said Laroche.

Air Canada and the Canadian Public employees union have been in contractual talks for about eight months, but they have not yet concluded a provisional agreement.

The two parties say that they remain distant on the issue of remuneration and that unpaid on -board agents do it when the planes are not in the air.

The airline’s latest offer included a 38% increase in total remuneration, including benefits and four -year pensions, which said: “The best compensated on -board in Canada would have made.” But the union postponed, saying that the 8% increase in the first year did not go far enough because of inflation.

Passengers whose trips are affected will be eligible to request a full refund on the website or mobile application of the airline, according to Air Canada.

The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But he warned that this could not guarantee immediate rehutation because thefts on other airlines are already complete “due to the peak of summer travel”.

The duration of the airline’s planes will be stored remains to be seen. But Air Canada’s chief of Air Canada, Mark Nasr said he could take up to a week to fully restart operations once a provisional agreement is concluded.

___

The writer of Associated Press Airlines, Rio Yamat, reported in Las Vegas.