Travelers Stranded as Air Canada Brings Flights to a Halt

Air Canada suspended all operations as more than 10,000 of the airline's flight attendants went on strike early Saturday after a deadline to reach a deal passed, leaving travelers around the world stranded and scrambling during the peak summer travel season. Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed the strike started after no deal was reached, and the airline said shortly after that it would halt operations, per the AP.

• The union turned down the request by Canada's biggest airline to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. The two parties have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they've yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air.

• Flight attendants walked off the job around 1am ET on Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu met with both the airline and union on Friday night and urged them to work harder to reach a deal. "It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made," Hajdu said in a statement. "Canadians are counting on both parties to put forward their best efforts."
• A complete shutdown will impact about 130,000 people a day, and some 25,000 Canadians a day may be stranded abroad. How long the airline's planes will be grounded remains to be seen, but Air Canada COO Mark Nasr has said it could take up to a week to fully restart operations once a tentative deal is reached.
• Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, per Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible, but it warned it couldn't guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full "due to the summer travel peak."
• Montreal resident Alex Laroche, 21, and his girlfriend had been saving since Christmas for their European vacation. Now their $8,000 trip with nonrefundable lodging is on the line as they wait to hear from Air Canada about the fate of their Saturday night flight to Nice, France. Laroche said he considered booking new flights with a different carrier, but he said most of them are nearly full and cost more than double the $3,000 they paid for their original tickets. "At this point, it's just a waiting game," he said.