Air Canada is in the midst of mass cancellations ahead of a potential strike from its flight attendants after the two sides were unable to agree on a new contract. The airline revealed it offered a 38 percent raise in compensation over four years, which the airline argued would have made them the highest paid flight attendants in Canada, with a 25 percent raise in the first year.
The flight attendants’ union rebuffed the offer and gave Air Canada a 72-hour strike notice that led the airline to start canceling flights as early as Thursday, Aug. 14 ahead of the looming strike on Friday, Aug. 15 night.
Former Air Canada Executive Weighs In
John Gradek, a former executive with the airline, revealed the flight attendants’ concerns come from not being paid for work they do on the ground before the flight takes off.
“It’s a change in the work environment. I think there’s been a number of organizations that recognized the need to ensure that flight attendants get paid for the work that they do,” he told CTVNews when asked about the change in standards where flight attendants were paid only when the plane was in motion.
“This is a movement that started in the U.S. about three years ago, where Delta Airlines started to pay flight attendants for work they’re doing handling passengers prior to door closing. United Airlines followed suit and now we have Porter Airlines in Canada that does pay flight attendants for some free boarding work that they’re doing, so it’s not an unknown feature. Air Canada ought to recognize that that’s the evolution, that’s where the industry is going and that’s going to be part of the negotiation.”
His Major Financial Warning to Air Canada
In another interview, Gradek revealed how much money Air Canada would lose in the event of a strike.
“A strike will cost them $50-60 million a day in lost revenue. At least $50-60 million. So this is not trivial, this is a significant amount of revenue lost,” Gradek said. “The margins in the business are not great so after a four or five day strike and the loss of that revenue and the loss of trust and reputation that Air Canada [will suffer] in the marketplace, I’m pretty sure Air Canada will come back to the table pretty quickly.”
As of Friday morning, Air Canada has already canceled nearly 50 flights.
Related: United Airlines Moving Forward With Change on All Flights Starting August 12
