Air Canada Flight Attendants Ignore Federal Back-to-Work Order

Carrier scrapped plans for an operational relaunch Sunday.

Zach Vasile

Monday, August 18, 2025 at 12:30 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A 737 Max 8 bound for Air Canada is stored at Boeing Field. [AirlineGeeks/Katie Zera]

Key Takeaways:

Air Canada flight attendants, represented by CUPE, are on strike and have explicitly defied a government-issued order to return to work, stating they will not comply until their wage demands are met.
This defiance has forced Air Canada to suspend most of its flights, impacting approximately 130,000 travelers daily, with the airline deeming the union's actions illegal.
The core dispute involves wage increases, which the union considers inadequate against inflation and unpaid work, leading Air Canada to suspend its profit forecasts until the strike is resolved.

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Air Canada called off plans to resume flights Sunday as its striking flight attendants announced they will defy a government-issued return-to-work order.

The carrier, Canada’s largest, initially signaled it would restart operations Sunday afternoon after the Canadian Industrial Relations Board directed its roughly 10,000 flight attendants to abandon their strike and return to work. But the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the flight attendants, said it will not comply as long as members’ demands for higher wages remain unmet.