A demonstration by more than a dozen members of the union representing Air Canada’s flight attendants prompted the airline to shut down a press conference on Thursday as tensions between the two sides continue to mount ahead of a weekend work stoppage.

Dozens of flights were expected to be cancelled by the end of Thursday and up to 500 more Friday, Air Canada executive vice-president and chief operations officer Mark Nasr told reporters during the briefing at a hotel near Toronto Pearson International Airport.

It was cut short after around 20 minutes as union members dressed in flight attendant uniforms and CUPE T-shirts disrupted the event multiple times.

At one point, union members marched in front of the stage where Air Canada executives were seated to answer reporters’ questions, ho

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