Air Canada says that the union representing its 10,000 flight attendants has asked to dispense with the mediation process over the parties’ tentative labour agreement and have the wage component proceed directly to arbitration – a request the airline has accepted “in a spirit of cooperation.”
As flight attendants from across Canada represented by CUPE descend on Parliament Hill on Tuesday (Sept. 16), to call on Ottawa to act to end unpaid work in Canada’s airline industry, a number of other aviation workers – including Transat pilots and airport screeners in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces – are similarly airing, and taking action, to resolve long-standing circumstances they deem unfair.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu says she’s aiming to have a probe into allegations of unpaid work in Canada’s airline sector wrapped up by early December. Hajdu has said this process could result in new legislation – but she also says Ottawa wants to be “very careful” about what it does next to ensure it upholds the right for union members and employers to bargain over terms of their work.
Transat’s revenue is back in the black with the company reporting a net income of $399.8 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $39.9 million in the same quarter last year, the company reported late last week.
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport’s award-winning ‘Girls Take Flight’ event will take off again on Oct. 4. While open to all young people, the free Saturday program is focused on inspiring young women to become the next generation of pilots, engineers, mechanics and scientists, as they continue to be underrepresented in the industry.
Air Canada announced its international network for Summer 2026 with new destinations taking flight in Europe and Asia. Beginning next year, the airline will launch new routes from Montréal to Catania in Sicily, Italy and, as previously announced, Palma de Mallarco, Spain. From Toronto, Air Canada will re-establish non-stop flights to Shanghai and Budapest and increase flights to Prague.
Amid an industry shortage of pilots and other skilled staff, WestJet and CAE have signed a 15-year training agreement under which the global leader in aviation training will establish the Alberta Training Centre of Excellence (the Centre) for Aviation and Aerospace – a cutting-edge facility in Calgary that will house eight full-flight simulators alongside cabin trainers and state of the art digital learning tools.
WestJet says it is ordering nearly 70 aircraft from Boeing, marking the airline’s largest order agreement to-date, and the largest-ever Canadian Boeing order. The agreement purchase of 60 737-10 MAX narrowbody aircraft, with options for an additional 25, and seven 787-9 Dreamliner widebody aircraft with options for four more, brings the carrier’s current order book to 123 aircraft and 40 options, while extending WestJet’s fleet growth plans through 2034.
Budget carrier Spirit Airlines said Friday that it has filed for fresh bankruptcy protection months after emerging from a Chapter 11 reorganization. The ultra low-cost airline said it plans to keep flying as usual during the restructuring process, meaning passengers can still book trips and use their tickets, credits and loyalty points. Employees and contractors will also continue to get paid, the company said.
At the end of work trips, Nathan Miller goes home to a makeshift bedroom in his parents’ house in Virginia. The 29-year-old flight attendant is part of a PSA Airlines crew based in Philadelphia, but he can’t afford to live there. Miller says he makes about US$24,000 a year staffing multiple flights a day as a full-time attendant for the American Airlines subsidiary.
WestJet and Copa Airlines have announced an interline agreement that will significantly enhance connectivity across both carriers’ networks. The agreement allows WestJet guests to seamlessly travel beyond its newly announced destination, Panama City, with access to 37 Copa Airlines destinations across Central and South America. Additionally, Copa guests travelling north will gain access to WestJet’s extensive North American network.
As Air Canada flight attendants begin voting this week on whether to accept a settlement offer from the airline, the workers union has issued a message to passengers and the public at large, expressing gratitude and forbearance, but also showing the ongoing frustration that ultimately resulted in a strike action from Aug. 16 to 19, and which may influence the result of the vote.
Increasingly an alternative to Toronto’s busy airports, John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) has unveiled its latest “refreshments,” and its winter flight program for 2025/26, including increased nonstop service and easy connections to/from southern Ontario to the South.
Southwest Airlines will soon require travellers who don’t fit within the armrests of their seat to pay for an extra one in advance, part of a string of recent changes the carrier is making. The new rule goes into effect Jan. 27, the same day Southwest starts assigning seats.
With an online petition – and some chirping on social media – of nearly half (4,800) of Air Canada’s 10,000 flight attendants expressing dissatisfaction over the airline’s wage offer, union members begin voting today (Aug. 27) on a new tentative agreement.
When is a window not a window? A pair of federal lawsuits filed in San Francisco and New York this week accuse Delta Air Lines and United Airlines of misleading passengers by charging premium fees for window seats next to blank walls.
WestJet is adding Puerto Escondido to its route map for the first time, providing seasonal access for travellers between Calgary and the Pacific coast surf town in Oaxaca, Mexico. Beginning Dec. 12, the route will operate once per week throughout the winter travel season.
Air Canada says more customers whose flights were cancelled during last week’s strike will be eligible for reimbursement for alternative travel and out-of-pocket expenses. And that includes passengers who booked their original Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge flights through a travel agency.
Air Canada expected most of its North American routes to be back up and running on Thursday after resuming operations Tuesday following the conclusion of a strike by its flight attendants.
Air Canada says it is adopting a policy to cover “certain transportation expenses” incurred by customers while getting to their destinations during the recent work stoppage. The airline says it will reimburse customers for those costs if they had a cancelled flight originally scheduled to depart from Aug. 15 to Aug. 23, Air Canada was unable to rebook them, and they then made alternative arrangements themselves.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has announced a landmark collaboration with four premier New York City cultural institutions – the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art – that will transform the new US$4.2 billion Terminal 6 (T6) at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) into a distinctly New York arts district within the airport.
Air Canada is taking flight “in earnest” today (Wednesday) after the company reached a tentative deal with the union representing its flight attendants to end a strike that began Saturday morning. A full resumption of service may take up to 10 days, says the airline.
In announcing its tentative deal with the Air Canada on behalf of the airline’s flight attendants yesterday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees declared “unpaid work is over” after making it a central issue in its push for a new contract.
A judge on Monday fined Qantas Airways AU$90 million (CDN$80.8 million) for illegally firing more than 1,800 ground staff at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The penalty is in addition to the AU$120 million ($108 million) in compensation that Australia’s biggest airline had already agreed to pay its former employees.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute suggests that Air Canada’s reputation appears to be rapidly losing altitude amid a battle between the company and unionized flight attendants.
A demonstration by more than a dozen members of the union representing Air Canada’s flight attendants prompted the airline to shut down a press conference on Thursday as tensions between the two sides continue to mount ahead of a weekend work stoppage.
A work stoppage looms for around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants after their union and the airline issued 72-hour strike and lockout notices, respectively, early Wednesday morning. The airline says it will begin cancelling flights that were scheduled to take off today (Thursday), with increasingly more disruptions by the weekend if a last-minute deal can’t be reached before the work stoppage takes effect. Here’s what else you need to know – and what’s next.
Just five months after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Spirit Airlines is warning about its future ability to stay in business. Spirit Aviation Holdings, the budget carrier’s parent company, says it has “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern over the next year – which is accounting-speak for running out of money.
Toronto Pearson says it saw slight growth in its overall passenger volumes in both the second quarter and year to date – despite a slowing in transborder traffic. Canada’s busiest airport saw and increase of 0.3 million or 1.5% to 12 million for the second quarter and 0.1 million or 0.1% to 22.7 million year-to-date, when compared to the same periods of 2024.
Air Canada and the union representing its approximately 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants failed to reach an agreement overnight, putting the flight attendants in a position to potentially walk off the job Saturday at 12:58 a.m. ET if a deal isn’t reached by then to avoid a work stoppage.