Arbitrator sets out four‑year wage pattern for flight attendants at Air Canada’s mainline operation, low-cost Rouge division
An arbitrator has finalised wage rates for about 15,000 Air Canada cabin crew, formally ending a high‑profile labour dispute that disrupted travel for thousands of passengers last summer and triggered federal intervention.
Arbitrator Paula Knopf set out a four‑year wage pattern for flight attendants at Air Canada’s mainline operation and its low‑cost Rouge division. The decision followed the rejection of the company’s last wage offer by 99.1% of cabin personnel.
The arbitration flowed from Minutes of Settlement negotiated between Air Canada and the Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to end a strike that had led to thousands of flight cancellations and stranded passengers worldwide. That settlement resolved a wide range of non‑wage issues but sent wage rates to binding arbitration if the tentative package was voted down.
The airline had previously announced it is eliminating hundreds of management positions.
Wage pattern and Rouge adjustment
Effective April 1, 2025, mainline flight attendants will receive a 12.0% salary increase for steps 1 to 9 on the wage grid and 8.0% for all other steps. Rouge flight attendants will receive a 13.0% increase for all steps.
For both mainline and Rouge, wages will rise by 3.0% on April 1, 2026, 2.5% on April 1, 2027, and 2.75% on April 1, 2028. The agreement runs until March 2029.
Knopf adjusted Rouge’s first‑year rates, finding that the earlier proposal “was not consistent with the Parties’ pattern of bargaining and has been increased to help ensure they do not fall below the rates of other comparable Canadian airlines.”
The Canadian Press (CP) reported that the bargaining committee for the Air Canada Component of CUPE said it was “not the outcome the union fought to achieve.” However, the arbitration closes the final unresolved issue from last summer’s strike, with ground‑time premiums and other non‑wage provisions already final under the earlier settlement.
Federal intervention, unlawful strike ruling
More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike last August, “upending thousands of customers’ travel plans.” Less than 12 hours after the walkout began, Ottawa invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to force the airline and the union into binding arbitration, and the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered flight attendants back to work the following day, reported CP.
That order was initially defied by union officials, leading the Board to state that the strike was unlawful even as the union said it would press ahead, according to CP. The parties then resumed negotiations and reached a tentative framework that locked in most terms of a new collective agreement while carving out wages for a separate process.
Under that framework, if members rejected the wage offer, the issue would move first to mediation and then to arbitration. Air Canada’s flight attendants voted by more than 99% to reject the wage portion last September, triggering the referral.
Non‑wage gains, ‘unpaid work’ premium
The Minutes of Settlement that ended the strike guaranteed several gains for cabin crew without concessions by CUPE. Knopf’s summary highlights “the introduction of a ‘Ground and Cabin Security Premium’ that would generate additional income for what CUPE had been calling ‘unpaid work’.”
Other improvements include increases to Canada–U.S. meal allowances; better movement for Rouge flight attendants who transfer or “flow through” to mainline, including removal of language requirements to speed progression on the wage grid; increased vacation entitlements; benefit improvements for mainline crew; a minimum entitlement to rest on layovers tied to the time cabin personnel receive their hotel room key; and pension enhancements.
CP noted that “a large chunk of the terms within the tentative deal — such as those setting out rules for pensions and retirement bridging, health benefits, prone rest and vacation — were already considered final,” along with the new ground‑time pay structure.
That structure provides that “flight attendants now receive half their hourly wage rate for 60 minutes of ground time on narrow‑body aircraft and 70 minutes on wide‑body planes,” rising to 60% in April, 65% in 2027 and 70% in 2028, CP reported.
Ottawa needs more detailed pay information from airlines and unions before it can determine whether Canadian flight attendants are doing unpaid work, Employment Minister Patty Hajdu previously said.
Arbitrator rejects wage tentative agreement
In the arbitration, CUPE argued for wage increases beyond those contemplated in the Minutes of Settlement. Air Canada did not claim an inability to pay, instead maintaining that its last wage offer was part of a tentative agreement that should be honoured.
Knopf rejected that position. The award concludes that the parties “never reached a tentative agreement on the issue of wage rates for Cabin Personnel.” At the same time, it finds that Air Canada “was willing to implement all the priorities CUPE left on the bargaining table,” knowing that if wages were not ratified they might be increased in arbitration.
Although CUPE had never accepted the company’s last wage offer, Knopf writes that “it must be presumed that the Union could accept those rates if they had been ratified because they were within the normative range for this sector and would be coupled with the other substantial improvements that had been secured.”
