Air Canada to pause nearly all flights by Saturday morning, officials say as strike looms | FULL

Senior executives representing Air Canada held a press conference on Thursday after the union representing its flight attendants officially handed in its 72-hour strike notice overnight.

Air Canada Executive Vice President Arielle Meloul-Wechsler said she was “disappointed” by the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) decision, suggesting the “situation was and still is avoidable.”

“We’re still available for negotiations, we’re still available for consensual arbitration, should that all not materialize, we do have to think about the very serious disruptions that would ensue,” Meloul-Wechsler said.

Air Canada began cancelling flights Thursday, with many more expected Friday, because “sudden or unmanaged work stoppages produce a significantly worse disruption to travel than a planned suspension of flying.”

The strike notice prompted the airline to develop its own plan to lock out employees early Saturday morning – the same day Executive Vice President and COO Mark Nasr says, “all flights [except Air Canada Express] will be paused.”

Now, Canadian Job Minister Patty Hajdu has asked CUPE to respond to the airline’s request for her to send the two parties to binding arbitration.

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