Air Canada Strike

[ronandannette]

We're booked from Calgary to Boston on September 18, to board a cruise. The current AC flights are absolutely perfect for our needs and I was delighted when I booked them. Now I'm freaking out; 75% of all available flights between here and there involve at least one AC leg, and the ones that don't have terrible scheduling and are exponentially more expensive, not to mention the already sunk-cost of the AC flights which will be returned in credit only.

Is anyone else struggling to pull the plug and re-book with other airlines or should I just suck it up and do it?

 

[ottawamom]

What about heading to Boston a few days early. The strike won't last long if it happens.

Or fly to Montreal a few days early and drive to Boston from there. Lots of possibilities.

 

[Marek Zyskowski]

I am curious how this dispute will unfold. I generally fly with Air Canada simply because I want to avoid any problems. I wonder if there will be any interruption with the service.

 

[ronandannette]

What about heading to Boston a few days early. The strike won't last long if it happens.

Or fly to Montreal a few days early and drive to Boston from there. Lots of possibilities.

The last “safe day” to fly AC would be September 16 and unfortunately, we just can’t go out that early. Wouldn’t want to look at cross-border fees for a one way rental car either. Alas, we’ve bought new tickets on AA for the 18th.

 

[ronandannette]

I am curious how this dispute will unfold. I generally fly with Air Canada simply because I want to avoid any problems. I wonder if there will be any interruption with the service.

There will be massive problems if the strike goes forward, even briefly.

 

[White Cat]

The last “safe day” to fly AC would be September 16 and unfortunately, we just can’t go out that early. Wouldn’t want to look at cross-border fees for a one way rental car either. Alas, we’ve bought new tickets on AA for the 18th.

Hoping it all works out for you. No fun.

 

[erinlynn2020]

We're booked from Calgary to Boston on September 18, to board a cruise. The current AC flights are absolutely perfect for our needs and I was delighted when I booked them. Now I'm freaking out; 75% of all available flights between here and there involve at least one AC leg, and the ones that don't have terrible scheduling and are exponentially more expensive, not to mention the already sunk-cost of the AC flights which will be returned in credit only.

Is anyone else struggling to pull the plug and re-book with other airlines or should I just suck it up and do it?

our outbound flight is fine but return might be an issue; booked SWA to Buffalo just in case hope it’s not an issue for anyone!

 

[ronandannette]

our outbound flight is fine but return might be an issue; booked SWA to Buffalo just in case hope it’s not an issue for anyone!

I hate to say it, but at this point, if they don't strike I'm going to be really torked about having bought those new flights. Are your SouthWest flights refundable?

 

[erinlynn2020]

I hate to say it, but at this point, if they don't strike I'm going to be really torked about having bought those new flights. Are your SouthWest flights refundable?

yes! SWA always gives a credit

 

[deedubb]

I just read that a captain with 10 yrs experience flying a larger wide-bodied plane has a salary of around $350K/yr and they have been offered an increase of 30% over the next 3 yrs with 20% the first year.

 

[ronandannette]

I just read that a captain with 10 yrs experience flying a larger wide-bodied plane has a salary of around $350K/yr and they have been offered an increase of 30% over the next 3 yrs with 20% the first year.

I don't know how reliable these sources are, but this one reports numbers much lower than that. And considering the gravity of their responsibility (our lives!!), I don't begrudge them a very good salary.

https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/Air-Canada-Pilot-Salaries-E42672_D_KO11,16.htm

 

[deedubb]

I don't know how reliable these sources are, but this one reports numbers much lower than that. And considering the gravity of their responsibility (our lives!!), I don't begrudge them a very good salary.

https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/Air-Canada-Pilot-Salaries-E42672_D_KO11,16.htm

Not sure if this is the article I read this morning, but this one has the same numbers.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/busines...er means that a,the contract, the people said.

Difficult to put a number on what an appropriate salary is. Is that quarterback worth 20 million? Is that cop only worth $90K when (s)he potentially puts their life on the line every day? How about that trauma surgeon that saves your life?

 

[2010dvcfan]

OH, no, we fly Air Canada to Vancouver on Sept 13th to board our first Disney Wonder Alaska cruise. We booked thru DCL, flights and all with insurance, so I guess that's good, but we are really looking forward to our first Alaska cruise. I don't have a back up plan for getting there or getting home on the 23rd.

 

[yowcruiser]

OH, no, we fly Air Canada to Vancouver on Sept 13th to board our first Disney Wonder Alaska cruise. We booked thru DCL, flights and all with insurance, so I guess that's good, but we are really looking forward to our first Alaska cruise. I don't have a back up plan for getting there or getting home on the 23rd.

The 13th is fine - no labour action can be taken before the 17th. As for the return, if booked through DCL... it then becomes their problem to find an alternative on the way back... if it is still an issue by then.

 

[2010dvcfan]

The 13th is fine - no labour action can be taken before the 17th. As for the return, if booked through DCL... it then becomes their problem to find an alternative on the way back... if it is still an issue by then.

That's good to know. Thank you

 

[yowcruiser]

That's good to know. Thank you

With that said, and totally unrelated to the potential strike, AirCanada has been running at full capacity over the last few months with very few spare aircrafts if something does go wrong. I always tell people to know of at least one alternative routing (with the same airline) and at least one with another airline. I travel extensively, mostly on AirCanada, and most of my flights have been fine... but there has been a few delays/cancellations/misconnections here and there...

 

[yowcruiser]

OH, no, we fly Air Canada to Vancouver on Sept 13th to board our first Disney Wonder Alaska cruise. We booked thru DCL, flights and all with insurance, so I guess that's good, but we are really looking forward to our first Alaska cruise. I don't have a back up plan for getting there or getting home on the 23rd.

...and further to my original post, AirCanada confirmed today that "pro-active" flight cancellations would not happen prior to September 15th - as they start to position some aircraft ahead of a potential shutdown. AirCanada has also implemented a goodwill policy to allow for changes to travel dates - but flights do need to stay on AirCanada...for now... more background info: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/bus...-suspend-most-operations-as-talks-with-pilot/

 

[dancin Disney style]

I just read that a captain with 10 yrs experience flying a larger wide-bodied plane has a salary of around $350K/yr and they have been offered an increase of 30% over the next 3 yrs with 20% the first year.

That is not in Canada. The Canadian carries pay significantly less which is why this is happening. They want to have their salaries more in line with their global counterparts.

 

[pangyal]

It also takes about those ten years to get to fly the wide-body. Until then, they get very little pay, especially compared to their American colleagues.

I am booked with AC to go to California exactly during the proposed dates- Sept. 21-26. I booked a fully-refundable flight with Porter and wanted to mention that as of now, Porter has not started to charge ridiculous fares, so they seem like a good alternative for anyone who might be stuck.

 

[pigletto]

As someone who was impacted by the Westjet strike in early July you absolutely want to have back up plans. We had a cruise out of Vancouver and even though the strike was over by 5 days by the time we flew they were still cancelling flights all over the place.

They cancelled our flight as we were pulling in to the airport parking lot. Just book the eye watering fully refundable fares on another airline and hope you don’t need to use them. Be very sure of what the cancellation terms are. The Westjet strike caused weeks of turmoil and stranded over 25,000 passengers over the Canada Day weekend alone.