The Canadian government intervened Saturday to end a strike by Air Canada cabin crew members that saw hundreds of flights cancelled and triggered summer travel chaos for the carrier's 130,000 daily passengers.

Canada's largest airline, which flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, had stopped all operations after some 10,000 flight attendants began industrial action fueled by a wage dispute just after midnight on Saturday.

Hours later, Canada's labor policy minister, Patty Hajdu, moved to invoke a legal provision that would halt the strike and force both sides into binding arbitration.

"This is not a decision that I have taken lightly. The potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and our economy is simply too great," Hajdu told journalists.

However, she said it could still

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