More than 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada will vote next week on a tentative agreement that proposes wage increases and a new pay structure for time worked while aircraft are on the ground. The airline and the union reached this agreement on Tuesday with the assistance of a federal mediator, effectively ending a strike that disrupted travel plans for thousands of customers.

The tentative deal, outlined by the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, includes a 12% salary increase for most junior flight attendants this year, while more senior attendants will receive an 8% raise. Additionally, all members are slated for a 3% increase in 2026, followed by 2.5% in 2027 and 2.75% in 2028.

Voting on the proposed agreement is scheduled from August 27 to September 6. Although members will vote on the entire package, many terms, including those related to pensions, health benefits, and vacation, are already finalized as agreed upon by both parties. If the flight attendants do not ratify the deal, the union stated that all terms except for wages would still be part of the new collective agreement. The wages portion would then go to arbitration, where a third-party arbitrator would make a final decision.

The agreement, which is set to last until March 2029, addresses the issue of unpaid work during ground time. Starting this year, flight attendants will receive half their hourly wage for 60 minutes of ground time on narrow-body aircraft and 70 minutes on wide-body planes. This rate will increase to 60% of the hourly wage next April, 65% in 2027, and 70% in 2028. These terms regarding ground pay are also considered final, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming vote.

The strike began last Saturday, prompting the federal government to intervene within 12 hours by invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which mandated binding arbitration between the airline and the union. The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered flight attendants to return to work on Sunday, but union officials defied this order, leading the board to declare the strike unlawful. Negotiations resumed on Monday evening, resulting in the tentative agreement reached overnight.

Following the conclusion of the strike, Air Canada announced that it expects most domestic and international routes to resume operations. An online dashboard indicated that 98% of domestic flights and 99% of U.S. flights were expected to operate within the next 24 hours. The airline's international flight ramp-up is also progressing, with 94% of planned flights anticipated to operate.

Air Canada Chief Operations Officer Mark Nasr noted that the restart for international routes would take longer because crews had been brought home before the strike. Consequently, crews were not in position overseas to staff return flights to Canada. The airline expects it will take up to 10 days for service to return to normal levels across Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. Additionally, the company announced a policy to reimburse customers who booked alternative transportation due to canceled flights between August 15 and August 23.