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 suspended its flight restart plans after its striking flight attendants, represented by CUPE, openly defied a government-issued return-to-work order.
CUPE members refused to return until their demands for higher wages and compensation for unpaid work are met, claiming Air Canada's current offer is inadequate when factoring in inflation.
The strike has effectively shut down Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, impacting an estimated 130,000 travelers daily, and led Air Canada to suspend its third-quarter and annual profit forecasts.
The government had imposed binding arbitration and a return-to-work order to prevent economic disruption, which the union publicly rejected, leading Air Canada to deem their actions "illegal."

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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.