Air Canada Flight Attendants Reject Airline’s Request to Start Binding Arbitration Talks

Air Canada flight attendants walk through the Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, Que., on Aug. 15, 2025. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi

With less than 24 hours remaining before Canada’s largest airline fully grounds nearly all flights, unionized Air Canada flight attendants have rejected Ottawa’s attempts to consider binding arbitration to force a deal.

Intervention by Ottawa to bring the eight-month dispute to a close through binding arbitration should be “firmly rejected,” according to an Aug. 15 statement from the Air Canada chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), saying it amounts to interference. Air Canada had previously asked the union to consider a binding arbitration to bring the dispute to a resolution.