Overview

• By midday Friday, Air Canada had canceled nearly 300 flights and expects about 500 total cancellations by the end of the day as it winds down operations ahead of the strike.
• The Canadian Union of Public Employees issued a 72-hour strike notice Wednesday and rejected Air Canada’s request for binding federal arbitration.
• Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu has asked the union to respond to the arbitration plea and urged both sides to resume good-faith bargaining.
• Flight attendants are demanding higher wages and compensation for boarding, deplaning and other ground duties that currently go unpaid.
• Air Canada warns a full shutdown could affect roughly 130,000 travellers per day and says a safe, orderly restart of operations would take up to a week even with a quick agreement.