Air Canada said it has begun a “gradual suspension” of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations on Thursday morning, and will cancel 500 flights by the end of the day Friday.

The cancellation will affect 130,000 customers a day, including 25,000 Canadians who may risk being stranded abroad, and all flights will be paused by early Saturday, said Mark Nasr, executive vice president and COO of Air Canada, in a press conference.

The press briefing was cut short on Tuesday when a group of protesters entered the chamber holding placards that read “unpaid work won’t fly” among other messages.

Air Canada is “simply not the kind of system that we can start or stop at the push of a button,” Nasr said. “So in order to have a safe and orderly wind down, we need to begin now.”

The first set of ca

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