Air Canada Strike Ends After Mediated Deal; Flights Restart Tonight

• Mediated tentative agreement reached early Aug 19; union ends strike and instructs crews to return.
• Ground/boarding time pay addressed in the deal, a core union demand.
• Flights resume tonight (from ~4 p.m. ET); full restoration to take about 7–10 days.
• The union had defied two return to work orders before talks resumed; Ottawa to probe unpaid work practices.
• Air Canada had suspended profit guidance during the stoppage; refunds or rebooking options remain available.

After a tense, four day standoff, Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) struck a mediated, tentative agreement that ends the walkout by roughly 10,000 flight attendants. The breakthrough came early Tuesday, clearing the way for operations to restart this evening and shifting attention from labour brinkmanship to the logistics of getting aircraft and crews back in place.

Substance mattered: the union’s central issue—unpaid ground duties during boarding—was addressed in the settlement, with both sides signaling “unpaid work is over.” The rapid pivot followed days of defiance after the Canada Industrial Relations Board declared the strike unlawful and ordered a return to work, and it arrives alongside a federal plan to examine unpaid work across the sector.

Operationally, Air Canada says some cancellations will persist through the next week as schedules stabilize. Customers on scrubbed flights can opt for refunds, credits, or rebooking, while investors will watch for a reinstated outlook after the airline pulled its profit guidance during the stoppage.