CALGARY — 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.

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.

But AC356, my next — and supposedly final — flight had already been delayed twice. According to the Air Canada app on my

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