Canada’s business community is sounding the alarm as Air Canada prepares to ground nearly all flights by Aug. 16 if no deal is reached with unionized flight attendants.
The labour dispute has been ongoing since the start of this year over pay and work conditions, with around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants who belong to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) rejecting the airline’s most recent offer on Aug. 11.
Unionized flight attendants issued a 72-hour strike notice followed by a lockout from the airline on Aug. 13.
With around 300 flights already grounded and the airline saying all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights will be cancelled by Saturday if no deal is reached, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and Toronto Region Board of Trade (TRBT) say that the economic fallout from even a brief shutdown would be enormous….