UPDATE: THE STRIKE IS AVERTED!
As I told you recently, a strike by Air Canada pilots (or a lock-out) this month is a very real possibility. Well, Monday morning, Air Canada announced they will begin to plan for a complete shutdown as early as September 15 (and some flights could be affected starting this Friday). As promised, here’s our more detailed guide about what you can and should do if you are traveling in the 2nd half of September.
To be clear, the strike or lock-out is not a sure thing yet, but it seems more likely than ever — unless the federal government intervenes to protect passengers and the economy. As the country’s biggest airline (by far), the disruption would be absolutely catastrophic (Air Canada carries 100,000+ passengers per day).
Changing your flight in advance is now allowed, but it might not be the best move for everyone at all — you have many rights during an airline strike!
But what is for sure is that everyone affected definitely needs to make a plan now.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Air Canada strike — and most importantly, your options.
What is the Air Canada strike?
The strike has been announced by Air Canada pilots, 98% of whom voted yes when their union organized a strike vote in August.
They recently refused a 30% pay increase, and Air Canada issued a statement Monday saying talks are “nearing impasse.”
Note that Air Canada could decide to declare a lock-out, too. That would have the same effect as a strike but would mean you would be owed cash compensation (in addition to your rights during a strike) because a lock-out is under their control… but it’s not like any airline and their accomplice, the government, make it easy for you to claim it!
In this guide, I’ll use just “strike” to lighten the text, but apart from your rights, strike means the same thing as strike or lock-out for everything else.
Who would be affected by the Air Canada strike?
It’s not all those who have an “Air Canada flight,” and it’s not just those who already have a flight booked.
The strike would affect:
- Travelers on flights operated by Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge
- Travelers who need a flight and haven’t booked yet
It’s important to understand what an Air Canada-operated flight is:
- Includes flights operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge
- Excludes flights operated by Air Canada Express in this case
- Excludes flights operated by a partner airline
To be very clear, some plane tickets booked with Air Canada, including some with Air Canada flight numbers, are not operated by Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge and are not affected by the strike. All that matters is which airline OPERATES the flight.
For travelers who don’t understand those concepts, I’ll soon share a detailed post about subsidiaries, airline partnerships, and codeshare flights.
It’s important to do 2 things if you need to fly in the 2nd half of September and haven’t booked yet:
- Don’t book on Air Canada
- Book now
As I said in our initial post, it’s not worth the risk to book Air Canada for the 2nd half of September. For example, in 2 weeks, I needed to fly from a credit card conference in Texas to a marketing conference in Toronto, so I booked a U.S. airline just to be safe, even though I love the amazing perks of my Aeroplan elite status and premium Aeroplan credit card when flying Air Canada.
And you should book ASAP, as this disruption will lead to increased prices for all airlines for all the 2nd half of September. Air Canada has a huge market share and if those seats aren’t available, other seats’ prices will go up. It’s the most basic thing about flight prices: they’re only fixed by how much travelers are willing to pay, as the industry is one of the most extreme examples of supply and demand.
Will the Air Canada strike happen?
That’s literally impossible for anyone to tell. But it seems more likely than not, but that’s just my own impression after talking to the PR firm representing Air Canada last week and reading Monday’s news release.
What’s for sure is this strike will happen unless:
- An agreement is reached before the strike, which can happen even in the final hours
- A government intervention happens before the strike, which is not impossible at all
In terms of reaching an agreement, it’s still possible for sure. Strike threats are very common in the aviation industry, and usually, it’s great leverage that gets airlines to come to an agreement with their labor unions.
It could even be resolved in the very final hours, which means it would be too late to avoid all disruptions and cancelations, as I’ll explain in a second.
In terms of the government stepping in, indications from political observers are that the federal government isn’t too inclined to intervene with special legislation. The feds’ move to force arbitration in the recent railway dispute is alleged to have at least partly been to blame for the NDP backing out of the agreement to support the Liberals.
So, it’s not clear what the best political move for Trudeau is to score political points and try to save his sinking ship. As with all politicians, scoring political points is literally the only thing that they care about and the only thing guiding all their decisions.
When would the Air Canada strike begin?
Most travelers don’t realize that the date of the strike itself isn’t the only one that matters. The strike is not the only issue, as we told you in our initial post.
There are really 3 separate types of flight cancelations that could disrupt flights, and the distinction is very important in terms of your rights and action plan:
- Pre-strike cancelations: Pre-emptively to shut down operations efficiently
- Strike cancelations: During the strike itself because there are no pilots
- Post-strike cancelations (or delays): It’ll be a mess to re-establish operations
Here are the start dates for those 3 potential disruptions:
- Pre-strike cancelations: From September 13 (but mostly starting September 15)
- Strike cancelations: From September 18 (if the notice is given on September 15)
- Post-strike cancelations (or delays): From whenever the strike ends
If nothing changes, the first cancelations could start Friday, September 13, but that would be mostly for vacation packages.
Real flights should start being canceled massively on September 15 because starting at 12:01 AM, a strike or lock-out notice can be sent. Cancelations would likely be announced in 12-hour waves, or with 24-hour notice at most.
I understand that some people find it unfortunate to know if their flight is canceled only at the last minute, but that’s how labor conflicts work. The airline doesn’t want to unnecessarily cancel flights too far in advance in case the conflict is resolved and they can operate them. If that process doesn’t work for you, choose a different option from the ones we list below.
Flights departing from Canada would most likely be canceled more than flights to Canada to prioritize return flights and allocate more of the limited resources to them (to bring back travelers, aircraft, and crews). For rebookings on other airlines, logically, passengers who have already departed will have priority over passengers who have not yet started their itinerary (one of the advantages of booking a roundtrip instead of 2 one-ways, advantages which are rare for short-distance flights at least).
On September 18 at 12:01 AM, the strike would begins and all flights would be canceled, again probably in waves of 12 or 24 hours but cancelations should not be announced more than 72 hours before the flight.
Don’t miss our more detailed guide on what to do during the actual cancelation: join 100,000+ savvy Canadian travelers who receive our free newsletter!
When would the Air Canada strike end?
The strike’s end date is just as important for those who have flights a bit later:
- Pre-strike cancelations: Until the strike starts
- Strike cancelations: Until an agreement or government intervention
- Post-strike cancelations (or delays): Until many days after the strike ends
So the big unknown, apart from if the strike actually happens, is obviously when the strike would end.
Air Canada carries over 100,000 passengers per day, so you can only imagine what a nightmare it will be in airports across Canada and the world. That could lead to the airline giving in to the pressure or, more likely, to the federal government intervening very quickly.
The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) and the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA) have both already called for a government intervention.
Air Canada’s waiver for free date changes explained below is for flights from September 15 to 23, so that gives you an indication of their prediction, although it’s not a certainty by any means.
A government intervention timeline is hard to estimate, as political decisions are irrational and therefore hard to predict — like with Canada’s stupid pandemic travel restrictions, decried for months by the World Health Organization (WHO), a UN body that the federal government blatantly ignored to score cheap political points.
If your flight is in October, though, I wouldn’t worry at all yet. But even then, if it’s early October and it’s a very important trip or you’re really worried, the tips below on what to do are still good.
Once the strike ends, it will definitely take many days to get back to normal. Airline operations are extremely complex, and it’s not something designed to be turned off and back on like nothing happened.
The days required to re-establish the whole route network and bring the many stranded travelers back to where they need to be is hard to estimate, as it wholly depends on how long the strike lasts, but Air Canada estimates it at “7 to 10 days” in their recent press release, but it would most likely be mostly fixed a bit faster than that (about 3 days for most of the network).
Should I book a backup flight due to the Air Canada strike?
It obviously depends on the option you choose among the ones we explain below, but backup flights are a pro tip that can be useful for any trip that is very important, when you absolutely have to be somewhere.
And not just when there’s a strike! Flight disruptions can (and do) happen all the time, because safety is always paramount in aviation — that’s why it’s by far the safest transport mode.
If you can’t miss an event or don’t want to be delayed at all, you can always book a plane ticket on another airline as a backup flight if the price is one you’re comfortable paying as a last resort to be where you need to be — keeping in mind you’ll get a full refund for your original flight if it’s canceled (at the very least, and maybe more).
So you can book your backup flight in:
- A fully refundable fare class
- A fare class that is refundable for a fee
Fully refundable fare classes are extremely expensive, as it’s designed for those who want the flexibility and don’t care about the price. The price of that flight minus the price of your original flight will probably still be expensive… but it’s probably cheaper than buying a same-day ticket if you’re in a pickle, although not always (but during a strike, prices will likely be terrible since everyone will need another flight).
A normal and cheaper ticket can be a better option, but if your original flight isn’t canceled, you’ll have to pay a cancelation fee for one of the flights (unless there’s a schedule change on one of them, which gives you a free refund). The price of the backup flight or the price of the cancelation fee could still be a relatively low one to pay for the convenience.
(Make sure to check whether the flight is refundable to the form of payment or to a flight voucher and most importantly, check the deadline to cancel — sometimes it’s as little as 1 hour before the flight, but it can be a full day too!)
Honestly, instead of a backup flight, it’s often much cheaper to just book your original flight a day or so early to avoid being delayed (even if it extends your total drip duration and you need to pay extra lodging costs). But sometimes that’s just not possible schedule-wise, and in the case of the strike, it might not be possible at all.
If you don’t end up needing the backup flight, you cancel it for a full refund, and it has cost you nothing at all (if it’s fully refundable) or very little (if it’s refundable for a fee). Now you understand why it makes sense for airlines to overbook flights, contrary to what all those who aren’t experts in plane tickets wrongly think.
If you do end up needing the backup flight, you’ll be happy to have it. And your original flight will be refunded to you.
How can I get free hotels and meals during the Air Canada strike?
It’s too late for those who sadly didn’t know the most basic and most important tip for all flight bookings, but it’s so vital that I will repeat it once again: get free hotels and meals during delays or cancelations by always paying for your flights with a good credit card which offers flight delay insurance!
That will ensure you won’t need to pay for hotels or meals if you’re affected by the Air Canada strike (or any other flight delay).
You won’t have to waste time to beg the airline for a hotel or meals like in a communist bread line, a wait which may even be useless as they don’t owe you a hotel or meals if the disruption is outside their control.
You won’t have to whine about not getting a hotel or meals in the media like so many sadly do, when it’s so easy to avoid all that.
You won’t be stuck in the basic hotel they give you, as you’ll get a nice one of your choosing and earn a ton of points by paying for it (via your credit card, via the hotel program directly, and maybe even via a shopping portal) and then getting reimbursed.
Such a simple tip.
It’s normal not to know, so many travelers don’t. But now you do. And it’s a great example of why you should invest at least a bit of time in learning to become a better traveler. There are so many great tips like this one! Many are in our free ebook with 100+ travel tips.
Flight delay insurance is a great way to save money and make the experience better during a cancelation, but that won’t get you where you need to go. That’s a whole other topic.
What should I do if I’m flying during the Air Canada strike?
Everything related to flight disruptions is extremely complex, even for experienced travelers. That’s due in part to the fact Canada’s passenger protections are terrible, as it is the case with so many other things under the federal government’s purview.
So we’re creating a detailed guide to make it as simple as possible. It’s coming soon and will have a lot more concrete details related to all possible situations to help you more.
But in the meantime, here’s what you need to do for the Air Canada strike.
You have many rights if the strike affects your flight, but so many travelers don’t know that. Many think that their trip will be completely canceled if the strike affects their flight, but that’s not quite true. Especially if it’s canceled before the strike or by a lock-out instead of a strike.
The best course of action depends on your situation:
- You want to keep your trip at the same dates
- You want to postpone your trip to later dates
- You want to cancel your trip completely
You can skip to the relevant part.
Keep your trip at the same dates
You have 3 options:
- You can keep your flight and wait and see
- You can keep your flight and book a backup flight
- You can cancel your flight and book on another airline
Keep your flight and wait and see
By keeping your flight, you keep alive the possibility of flying exactly what you had booked if the strike is averted completely or ends before your flight. The current waiver for free date changes might become more generous soon, too.
And then, if the airline does cancel your flight, you have many rights, including at the very minimum:
- Getting a full refund
- Getting rebooked for free on another airline
But sometimes, you are owed a lot more, like cash compensation (up to $1,000 per passenger) or even a reimbursement of all losses incurred (up to $10,000).
However, this depends on your destination (you have more rights for international flights and even more rights for many European flights), on whether they cancel your flight before the strike or during/after the strike, and on whether it’s a lock-out instead of a strike.
It won’t be easy to get rebooked by Air Canada or reimbursed by Air Canada if you book yourself, so since the odds of a strike are far from zero, it’s the option for those with a higher risk tolerance and/or who don’t mind possibly being delayed by a few days (at least it won’t cost a thing in hotels and meals during the delay for savvy travelers).
This is the most complex part, so I put all that in a separate post about your rights during airline strikes, and I’ll soon have a separate guide with even more details about what you should do step by step if you choose this option. Join 100,000+ savvy Canadian travelers who receive our free newsletter.
Keep your flight and book a backup flight
This is basically the same thing as keeping your flight and wait and see, except you also book a backup flight in order to make things simpler if the strike happens.
Airlines will owe you a refund, but you might also get money to lower the net cost of your backup flight or even get it completely reimbursed. Again, see our post about your rights during airline strikes.
And if your flight is canceled, you then use your backup flight. If your flight isn’t canceled, you get a refund for your backup flight (or your original flight if it’s better to fly the new one or if the Air Canada waiver is improved by then).
Like everything related to travel, whether this is cheaper depends on so many factors: just take a bit of time to compare prices in your specific situation to make a better decision. If the backup flight is just $300 more than your original flight, the decision is much easier than if it’s $1000 more.
Cancel your flight and book on another airline
This is what most people will do. But that’s not necessarily recommended.
Yes, if you have a flight between September 15th and 23rd, you can take advantage of Air Canada’s waiver. It’s a goodwill policy they implemented to allow you to change your flight dates for free or get a voucher. But that’s a lot less flexible than a full refund in cash (and you certainly won’t get compensation).
And if your flight isn’t from the 15th to the 23rd, it’s definitely a bad idea to cancel right away, because it’s guaranteed to cost you money (the cancelation fee).
Booking your other flight without canceling the original one yet is what savvy travelers do!
We always tell you that one of the best pro tips is to never cancel a flight in advance, no matter the situation. Imagine if you had coincidentally booked an Air Canada flight in late September and decided months ago that you needed to change it to November.
Sadly most travelers would have canceled it right away (for absolutely no reason!) and so they had to pay a cancelation fee. Savvy travelers now get to change the dates for free thanks to the unrelated strike waiver (or thanks to any schedule changes, which are common and allow you to get a free refund even when there’s no strike).
If you cancel now, you only get a voucher (or new dates). If you wait and they cancel it pre-emptively before the strike or declare a lock-out, you’re owed a full refund and $400 in cash compensation. If they cancel it during or after the strike, you’re owed a full refund.
The only risk is that if they don’t cancel your flight and you’re not entitled to anything more… they might pull the waiver. The strike seems likely now, but no one knows.
Postpone your trip to later dates
You have 2 options:
- You can change your flight for free
- You can keep your flight and wait and see
Change your flight for free
You can take advantage of Air Canada’s waiver. It’s a goodwill policy they implemented to allow you to change your flight dates for free or get a travel voucher.
It doesn’t allow you to get a full refund (yet), except if you paid with Aeroplan points.
Here are the details of Air Canada’s waiver:
- Your flight must be scheduled between September 15 and September 23
- Your flight must have been purchased no later than September 9, 2024
- Your new dates must be before September 15 or between September 24 and November 30
- Or you can get a travel voucher
The waiver could be more generous as the conflict approaches. We’ll keep you updated.
The next option might be better to potentially get a full refund, especially if you want to postpone to dates in December or later.
Keep your flight and wait and see
We always tell you that one of the best pro tips is to never cancel a flight in advance, no matter the situation. Imagine if you had coincidentally booked a flight in late September and decided months ago that you needed to change it to November.
Sadly most travelers would have canceled it right away (for absolutely no reason!) and so they had to pay a cancelation fee. Savvy travelers now get to change the dates for free thanks to the unrelated strike waiver (or thanks to any schedule changes, which are common and allow you to get a free refund even when there’s no strike).
But why still wait now if the waiver is now in effect?
Well, as I just said in the previous scenarios, if you wait and they cancel it pre-emptively before the strike or declare a lock-out, you’re owed a full refund and $400 in cash compensation. If they cancel it during or after the strike, you’re owed a full refund.
The only risk is that if they don’t cancel your flight and you’re not entitled to anything more… they might pull the waiver. The strike seems likely now, but no one knows.
Cancel your trip completely
You have 2 options:
- You can cancel your flight
- You can keep your flight and wait and see
Cancel your flight
All Air Canada is offering right now is a free change of dates or a travel voucher, not a full refund. And just for flights from September 15-23.
So if your dates are farther out, you’ll have to pay a cancelation fee (unless you booked a more expensive and more flexible fare class), unless you go with the next option.
Keep your flight and wait and see
We always tell you that one of the best pro tips is to never cancel a flight in advance, no matter the situation. Imagine if you had coincidentally booked a flight in late September and decided months ago that you needed to change it to November.
Sadly most travelers would have canceled it right away (for absolutely no reason!) and so they had to pay a cancelation fee. Savvy travelers now get to change the dates for free thanks to the unrelated strike waiver (or thanks to any schedule changes, which are common and allow you to get a free refund even when there’s no strike).
But why still wait now if the waiver is now in effect?
Well, as I just said in the previous scenarios, if you wait and they cancel it pre-emptively before the strike or declare a lock-out, you’re owed a full refund and $400 in cash compensation. If they cancel it during or after the strike, you’re owed a full refund.
The only risk is that if they don’t cancel your flight and you’re not entitled to anything more… they might pull the waiver. The strike seems likely now, but no one knows.
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Summary
A strike by Air Canada’s pilots seems increasingly likely. If this happens, it will cause major disruption, as it is by far the largest airline in Canada. This detailed guide gives you all the information on what you can and should do if you’re traveling in the 2nd half of September.
What would you like to know about the Air Canada strike? Tell us in the comments below.
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I have non refundable aeroplan ticket to croatia on Sep 19, so I know all I can get now is a voucher if I choose to cancel.
My question is, if I cancel , or they cancel, is the return trip cancelled too? the return is not AC but on the same Aeroplan itinerary. or…can I buy a new oneway and get a voucher for outbound without triggering the who itinerary being cancelled ?
If you booked with points, you can get a full refund, not a voucher. But that still doesn’t get you where you want to be.
If they cancel, you can theoretically keep the return if they can rebook you on another airline to get there. If you want to book on your own and then have them pay for it, it makes it a bit more complex as they might not want to let you keep your return.
I am flying to Athènes on September 26 …then on a cruise on October 1 …should I book a back up flight with full refund for cancellation or wait and book on another airline as soon as my flight is cancelled…
A cruise is something you probably don’t want to miss, so if you really want to be sure, yes you could book a backup flight. It would be surprising for the strike to still be in effect by the 26th, but it’s not impossible.
I have an AC flight to Toronto, then onward internationally with another airline. I have a backup flight to Toronto booked, for the day before as that was the most reasonable option. I’m worried about the international flights being cancelled if I fly with the backup flight and not the AC. I’ve been advised by AC to phone them if the strike happens but can’t imagine it will be easy to get through to them. I also contacted the international airline on facebook, they said no worries your flight will still be there, but really? Any other suggestions welcome.
Hi, if I understand correctly, your initial ticket has both flights on the same ticket. Indeed tickets are usually invalid as soon as one of the flights is not flown. You’ll have to get them to cancel the first flight but change the ticket to start in Toronto explicitly. This is a situation where if you can be in person at the airport to talk to an agent, the wait will be long, but probably not as long as on the phone :S