Tails of Air Canada planes are seen at Pearson International Airport on Aug. 14, 2025, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - The Atlanta airport is feeling some turbulence from the fight between Air Canada and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants.
On Sunday, the airline suspended plans to resume operations after the union said it would defy an order to return to work.
SEE MORE: Air Canada delays flight restart as union defies back-to-work order
What we know:
The Canada Industrial Relations Board had ordered airline staff back to work by 2 p.m. Sunday after the government intervened, and Air Canada said it planned to resume flights Sunday evening.
The order came less than 12 hours after workers walked off the job. Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu argued that now was not the time to take risks with the economy,noting the unprecedented tariffs the U.S. has imposed on Canada.
That plan changed after the airline said the union "illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a direction from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board."
The strike was already affecting about 130,000 travelers per day during the peak summer travel season. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day.
The other side:
Air Canada and CUPE have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides have said they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren’t in the air.
The airline’s latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions, over four years, that it said "would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada."
But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn’t go far enough because of inflation.
"Our members are not going back to work," Canadian Union of Public Employees national president Mark Hancock said outside Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. "We are saying no."
Flight attendants chanted "Don’t blame me, blame AC" outside Pearson.
Local perspective:
According to FlightAware, Air Canada canceled multiple flights scheduled to go to Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday. The status of other scheduled flights to the world's busiest airport remain cloudy.
The airline hopes to get planes back in the air on Monday night.
The union says its members will not return to work until a deal is made.
What you can do:
Passengers whose flights are impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline’s website or mobile app, according to Air Canada.
The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. Still, it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full "due to the summer travel peak."
The Source: Information for this article was taken from FlightAware data and a report by the Associated Press.