Air Canada has reached a tentative deal with its flight attendants’ union, ending a disruptive almost four-day strike that grounded thousands of flights and left Cayman travellers scrambling for alternatives.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and its Rouge subsidiary, confirmed Tuesday morning that mediation concluded successfully, halting a walkout that began Saturday. The airline says flights will “gradually” resume Tuesday night but warned that it may take up to 10 days to fully restore schedules.
Air Canada operates direct flights between Toronto and Grand Cayman on Mondays and Thursdays, so the next regularly scheduled flights would be Thursday, 21 Aug., although there’s still a chance they will be cancelled.
Local travel agents picking up slack
Travel agents in Cayman are working overtime to get travellers moving again.
“The strike has ended but flight schedules have not resumed as normal so we are still re-accommodating clients on other airlines to get in and out of Canada,” said Mindy Hennings of Cayman Travel Services.
“It has been challenging with so many people worldwide being affected. We have been working over the weekend, all day yesterday to re-accommodate clients and up until late last night one of my agents was working with a client needing to get to Toronto to take her son to university today. Air Canada has said they are working to restore their flight schedule but some flights will be cancelled over the next seven to 10 days until the schedule is stabilised.”
Fiona Brander of Travel Pros said Air Canada rebooked some passengers on United Airlines through the US, but that option wasn’t available to everyone. For those without US visas, her team has been scrambling to find alternatives without US stopovers on airlines such as WestJet, but flights are either full or prohibitively expensive.
A one-way Cayman–Toronto ticket on WestJet was selling this week for CAD$2,387 (about CI$1,430), according to a screen shot shared by a mother on a WhatsApp group for students attending school in Canada.
“It is a stressful time when flights are cancelled, especially at such a busy time of the year,” said Brander.
As of the morning of 19 Aug., Brander confirmed that flight AC1831 (Cayman–Toronto) and flight AC1830 (Toronto–Cayman) scheduled for Thursday, 21 Aug. were still showing as operating and had not been cancelled.
“Everyone needs to keep an eye on this and hope it does operate,” said Brander, of Thursday’s flight. “There is a chance this could be cancelled.”
Passengers whose flights are cancelled can request a full refund, opt for a travel credit or can be rebooked on another airline.
Families caught in the middle
The timing has been especially difficult for families with students heading back to Canadian boarding schools and universities.
One Cayman parent, Glenna Dureau-Sargsyan, told the Compass that her daughter had been stranded in Toronto after her onward flight to Regina was cancelled. “We booked her into a hotel near the airport as a temporary measure,” she said, sharing that Air Canada had rebooked her on United Airlines, but did not cover her hotel, food or transport costs and provided only a single $15 meal voucher.
Anxious parents have been trading tips on alternative routes – from trains and buses to car rentals through Buffalo, New York – with some even offering cash to other parents in hopes of securing a ticket.
Advice for passengers
One passenger rights expert is warning travellers not to simply accept refunds from Air Canada. Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights, told CTV News that under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, the airline is obliged to rebook passengers on competing airlines if necessary.
“A refund can be one way for an airline to wash their hands of their obligation to rebook you on another flight,” Lukacs said. According to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, Air Canada is required to book its customers a new “reservation for the next available flight that is operated by any carrier”.
Air Canada says customers can manage disruptions through its online self-service rebooking tool.
What’s next
The Air Canada strike was triggered by disputes over wages and “ground pay” – compensation for time spent boarding and deplaning passengers – which flight attendants argued lagged behind smaller Canadian carriers and major US airlines.
The labour disruption caused more than 3,100 flight cancellations globally and affected over half a million passengers, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
“Our priority now is to get them moving as quickly as possible,” said Michael Rousseau, president and chief executive officer of Air Canada, in a statement. “Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking. Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days.”
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