Air Canada says its flights will gradually resume on Tuesday after the airline reached a tentative deal with the union representing 10,000 or so of its flight attendants.
Any deal must still be ratified by flight attendants who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Even so, the announcement early on Tuesday appeared to herald an end to a strike that has paralyzed Air Canada’s operations since Saturday.
The strike was declared illegal by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Monday but union leaders said at the time their action would continue, in the face of possible fines or eventual jail.
Talks between the two parties resumed on Monday evening after three days of chaos at airports nationwide.
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Flights between Yellowknife and Edmonton or Vancouver remained in operation as they are offered by Air Canada Express, whose flight attendants are not covered by the same bargaining agreement.
Toronto-Yellowknife services were cancelled as they are offered by Air Canada Rouge, which is part of the labour dispute. Even if flights to and from the NWT operated, many passengers found their connections in southern Canada disrupted.
In a message online, the Air Canada component of the CUPE union said it had completed mediation and after more than nine hours of negotiations, the strike had ended as of 2:23am MT.
“We are required to advise our membership that we must fully cooperate with resumption of operations,” the union stated.
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“We have a tentative agreement we will bring forward to you.”
Air Canada said in a statement it will “gradually restart its operations today after reaching a mediated agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees through a process overseen by a mutually agreed-to mediator, William Kaplan.”
The details of that agreement are not yet public.
“Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking,” Air Canada president Michael Rousseau was quoted as saying.
“Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days. I assure them that everyone at Air Canada is doing everything possible to enable them to travel soon.”
The first flights are scheduled for Tuesday evening. Air Canada said it may need seven to 10 days to get back to its regular service.
