Dubai travellers tell of days in limbo due to Air Canada strikes

Airline says deal reached with cabin crew but warns it will take a week to return to normal

Striking Air Canada cabin crew at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia. Reuters

Air Canada may have agreed a deal with striking cabin crew and resumed flights, but the dispute caused − and is still causing − major disruption to passengers' travel plans.

More than 10,000 flight attendants walked out on Saturday, triggering a standoff with the Montreal-based carrier.

A return to work order from the government on Sunday did not end the dispute over pay and conditions. However, early on Tuesday, Air Canada said it would “gradually restart” operations after reaching a mediated agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“Our priority now is to get them moving as quickly as possible. Restarting a major carrier like Air Canada is a complex undertaking,” Air Canada president and chief executive Michael Rousseau said, acknowledging that the full restoration of operations might “require a week or more”.

From Dubai, Air Canada operates a daily flight to Toronto at 1.25am. Data from Dubai Airports shows that Wednesday's flight still marked as cancelled.

Refund rights

Grace Guino, a Dubai resident, was booked for the Tuesday flight, having purchased the ticket on June 14.

On Monday, she received an email from Air Canada at 4.34pm, which she shared with The National, informing her that her flight was cancelled due to a “labour disruption [that] is impacting our operations … outside our control”.

The airline said at the time it was searching for rebooking options on more than 120 carriers for up to three days after the cancelled flight. Ms Guino was also given the option to refund, which she took.

Affected customers should check airline policies around refunds and cancellations, as well as any attached penalties for doing so, said Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research. He added that passengers should not be penalised for seeking compensation.

“Others might elect to defer and rearrange travel – but that will be predicated on how quickly this strike is concluded. If it drags on, those wanting to travel into or out of Canada will simply rebook elsewhere,” he told The National.

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Ms Guino's full ticket cost was about C$1,530 ($1,106), which included a C$300 voucher. However, Air Canada refunded her C$1,830, meaning she received both the full cost of the ticket plus the voucher.

“As soon as I saw the news [of the government intervention] over the weekend, I was hopeful the situation would be resolved immediately,” she told The National.

Ms Guino – who was travelling to attend a concert by English rock band Oasis – was forced to then find an alternative flight; she was able to book one on Emirates, but to Montreal and at a cost of about Dh8,400 ($2,290).

“It was frustrating, of course. But at least I got my refund immediately … and I was able to plan earlier,” she said.

'It was chaos'

Meanwhile, a Canadian resident who travelled to Dubai for work said he was stranded in Venice on the way to Toronto from Dubai due to the cancellation of Air Canada flights.

The passenger travelled to Venice from Dubai on an Emirates flight on Saturday morning and was supposed to take an Air Canada flight to Toronto on Sunday, after a 20-hour layover at Venice. However, that turned into a more than two-day stay amid the cancellations.

“Probably five or six hours before the departure of the flight, Air Canada announced the cancellation of flight,” he told The National.

“The first thing was how to get the luggage out and it was a hassle. We called Air Canada and their numbers were off. Finally, I called Emirates; they helped me get our luggage and what needed to be done, and then, finally, an Air Canada representative offered us a stay for a night in Venice.”

However, when they reached the airport, the flight on the following day − Monday − was also cancelled. An Air Canada representative helped him find seats on Air France to travel to Paris, and from there to Detroit on Delta Air Lines. After reaching Detroit, he planned to take a bus to travel to Windsor in Canada and drive to Toronto to reach his final destination. For all the re-bookings and extra transport, he had to shell out an additional C$2,000 to get to Toronto.

“It was chaos,” said the passenger.

Another Air Canada passenger, Zee, a Czech national who has been living in Dubai for the past 10 years, said his wife and children are stuck in Canada because of the situation.

“They were supposed to have reached Dubai on Sunday evening from Toronto but will only reach there tomorrow [Wednesday] morning on a different flight, because of the current situation with Air Canada,” Zee told The National.

“They were in limbo with the Air Canada app saying that the flight was scheduled and on time, while there's an email communication saying everything is cancelled. It was not helpful, because they were on standby waiting … overall, terrible communication from Air Canada … terrible timing,” he said.

Mr Zee said his family plans to seek a refund from Air Canada for the cancelled journey once the strike ends and the family returns.

“Overall, it is a sad situation and frustrating. My wife was supposed to have [resumed work] on Monday but will now start on Wednesday, soon after reaching Dubai.”

The strike at Air Canada, or for any other carrier that may experience the same situation, is also a lesson and opportunity for its rivals, Mr Ahmad said.

“While the strike continues and Air Canada’s reputation lies in tatters, rival airlines will do whatever they can to accommodate travellers and poach that traffic away in the short term,” he said.

“The longer this drags on, the impact on Air Canada could well result in the airline losing regular and coveted loyal business customers that often pay top dollars to fly them – given the competition across the Atlantic in particular, Air Canada isn’t the only game in town to reach Canadian cities – and they’ll be well aware of that.”