Nykole King and Aidan Jaager, Saskatoon StarPhoenix
William Yan expects to be stuck in Saskatoon for a week after an Air Canada work stoppage halted his travel plans to China.
“Emotionally, it’s overwhelming,” Yan said from the Saskatoon airport on Monday after his flight was cancelled and then rebooked for Aug. 25. “There’s a lot to process and handle, especially with so many plans disrupted and responsibilities waiting for us in China.”
Air Canada’s flight attendants went on strike Saturday but were ordered back to work after Minister of Jobs Patty Hajdu invoked Section 107 of the federal labour code, asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to send the two sides to binding arbitration and order an end to the job action.
However, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the flight attendants, ignored the edict and is challenging CIRB’s order in Federal Court.
On Monday, CIRB declared the strike by the company’s 10,000 flight attendants to be illegal and ordered the union’s leadership to direct its members to return to work.
“Air Canada’s app didn’t provide any real updates but, when we went to the airport, the employees there helped us out,” said Yan, who didn’t look into leaving Saskatoon with another airline, instead holding out hope that a rescheduled flight proceeds.
In Regina, Evan Nevidomsky — along with his wife and two young children — faced delays when their Air Canada flight back to Victoria on Monday was cancelled due to the strike action.
“We’ve got things to do at home, so (it’s) pretty inconvenient,” Nevidomsky said at the Regina International Airport.
“Kids to entertain, too,” added his wife, Rebecca Bakker, with their three-year-old toddler and 10-month-old baby in tow.
The family already had a one-day delay with their inbound flight to Regina, eventually landing in the Queen City on Aug. 9 to visit family for about 10 days.
They were alerted via text from Air Canada on Sunday afternoon that the job action meant it may take up to three days for the airline to rebook them on a flight home.
Air Canada ended up getting back to them a few hours later with a revised itinerary for a WestJet flight. It included a layover in Calgary before landing in Victoria, but at least it meant getting home by dinner time, they said.
On Monday, the airline estimated that some 500,000 customers’ flights have been cancelled nationwide.
The Regina Airport Authority said eight of its Air Canada flights were cancelled Monday while Saskatoon International Airport announced 10 cancellations. Flights to and from Toronto and Vancouver accounted for all of the Saskatchewan routes affected.
“It’s probably good for them to fight (for) what they’re worth,” Bakker said of the flight attendants. “It’s just too bad that has to come (at the) expense (of) travellers.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
nyking@postmedia.com
