• Air Canada flight attendants have ended their strike after reaching a tentative agreement with the airline.
• The strike affected around 130,000 travelers daily, leading to over 2,700 canceled flights.
• The agreement guarantees pay for work performed while planes are on the ground, a key issue for the union.
• Air Canada plans to gradually resume operations, with full service possibly taking up to ten days.
• Government involvement occurred as the Canada Industrial Relations Board declared the strike illegal.

Air Canada has reached a tentative agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), ending a strike that grounded flights and affected approximately 130,000 travelers daily. The union, representing around 10,000 flight attendants, had demanded better pay and compensation for work performed before flights, which had previously gone unpaid. In a statement, CUPE affirmed, “Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power” according to TRT Global, Reuters, and Los Angeles Times.

The strike commenced early Saturday and lasted nearly four days, leading to numerous flight cancellations and disruptions for approximately 500,000 customers. The airline estimated that over 2,700 flights were canceled since the strike began. Air Canada indicated that operations would begin to resume on Tuesday evening, but warned that full restoration of services may take up to a week or longer according to Reuters, Anadolu Agency, and CBS News.

The agreement was reached after the union and Air Canada resumed mediation discussions, with the union initially defying a return-to-work order issued by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which declared the strike illegal. Minister of Jobs Patty Hajdu had also indicated government action, stating she would investigate allegations of unpaid work against the airline as the government intervened in the negotiations according to BBC and Al Jazeera.

Air Canada plans to offer affected passengers full refunds or travel credit for canceled flights. The airline's stocks rose slightly following news of the resolved strike, reflecting some optimism among investors after substantial disruptions to operations according to India Times and Times of India.