Overview

• Using back-to-work authority, Ottawa halted the 72-hour walkout after 12 hours and mandated a binding mediator to negotiate a new contract.
• Flight attendants had grounded roughly 500–700 daily flights across Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, affecting about 130,000 passengers each day.
• The union sought higher pay and compensation for ground-time duties, but arbitrations of this kind rarely produce major gains for workers.
• Air Canada suspended all operations and advised customers to confirm rebookings before heading to airports.
• The carrier is attempting to shift passengers onto other airlines but warns that full schedule recovery could take several days due to peak summer demand.