Air Canada flight attendants protest at Trudeau Airport in Dorval on Monday. The Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees were officially on strike Saturday. Photo by Dave Sidaway / Postmedia

Air Canada’s 10,500 flight attendants went on strike Saturday, grounding hundreds of flights and disrupting 130,000 passengers per day at the peak of holiday season after pay negotiations fell through.

“We are now officially on strike,” the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a post on its website.

Air Canada confirmed it had suspended all operations of its main line and Rouge budget brand, in a separate statement. The Montreal-based airline, Canada’s biggest, gave notice earlier in the week that it would lock the attendants out after 1:

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