OTTAWA – Air Canada (AC) confirmed today that striking flight attendants would be back at work and that flight operations would resume this afternoon, but FAs have a different outlook on the matter.

Today, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed that flights would return fully staffed, stating that the CIRB had directed the airline "to resume airline operations and for all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to resume their duties by 14:00 EDT on August 17, 2025.”

In defiance of the government decision to return them to work by this afternoon, AC flight attendants said on Sunday, August 17, 2025, that they would continue their strike and contest the return-to-work order that they deemed unlawful.

Yesterday, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) referred the airline's contract negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union that represents AC flight attendants, to final binding interest arbitration in response to a directive from Patty Hajdu, the Federal Minister of Jobs and Families.

Reaction from CUPE

The revelation that Section 107 had been invoked and that the case had been committed to forced arbitration immediately after the strike action began sparked a furious response from CUPE.

In an August 15, 2025, press release, CUPE stated that "88% per cent of Canadians believe flight attendants should be paid for all work-related duties including boarding, delays, and safety checks" and "59% believe the federal government should respect flight attendants’ right to take job action – even if it causes travel disruptions." The federal government didn't.

After the CIRB invoked section 107, CUPE stated, "This sets a terrible precedent. Contrary to the Minister’s remarks, this will not ensure labour peace at Air Canada. This will only ensure that the unresolved issues will continue to worsen by kicking them down the road. Nor will it ensure labour peace in this industry — because unpaid work is an unfair practice that pervades nearly the entire airline sector, and will continue to arise in negotiations between flight attendants and other carriers."

Flight Cancellations to Continue

As of Sunday morning, AC has cancelled a total of 494 flights, with 244 domestic and 250 international services affected. The disruption follows several days of mounting cancellations, particularly severe on August 16, when 345 domestic and 374 international flights were grounded.

Overall, since August 11, Air Canada has scheduled 2,824 domestic flights with 749 cancellations, and 2,916 international flights with 762 cancellations. Further updates are expected later today.

If the FAs do defy the Canadian government's directive and continue the strike action, the flight cancellation regime at AC will continue. You can review our daily tally of flight cancellations from the Canadian flag carrier in our initial post on the strike action here.