I was flying back through Calgary to Ottawa on Air Canada, then my flight got cancelled

Here's what it was like to be caught in the middle of the Air Canada strike while trying to fly back to Ottawa.

What was originally supposed to be a layover in Calgary turned out to be more than I bargained for.

I joined the hundreds of other Air Canada passengers in the waiting area when the gate agent announced that we would start boarding in a few minutes. Unfortunately, they were still waiting for flight attendants to arrive.

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I was already anxious. When I checked in for my first flight early Thursday morning, I was warned that my flights were “at risk” of cancellation due to labour disruptions . My first two — Portland to Vancouver, then Vancouver to Calgary — took off without any problems, so I was still holding out hope I would make it back home to Ottawa