Possible Air Canada pilot strike

Flying to Tokyo from YYZ just three days before possible strike action but fingers crossed they can get everything resolved before then!

Also a flight during that window. AC ticket...using Swiss. Phew.

https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2024/ac-action.html#/

Looks like the airline is making it fairly easy and fee free to make changes if you have a flight in the target period.

I'm breathing a sigh of relief. A couple of weeks ago I had posted that I was concerned because I had booked a flight to Lisbon on two separate tickets because I had some miles to use up. The first leg is Calgary to Barcelona on WestJet and then a 4 hour layover before taking EasyJet to Lisbon. The alternate which made more sense because it was on the same ticket was Air Canada to Lisbon via Toronto. Either flight would have been Sept 21st. I wish my wife was Samantha Stevens from Bewitched so she could wiggle her nose and get us where we want to be, no fuss, no muss.

Oh No! We're flying Air Canada Venice to Toronto on 9/22! I guess I'll wait to see how things go for a bit before trying to reschedule.

Thanks for the heads up!

Tina C:
Here is the info about how you can reschedule for free.

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Air-Canada-makes-customers-offer-with-threat-pilot-strike

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2024/ac-action.html

As I read it, you can cancel your non-refundable flight for a credit, not a refund. Or switch to later dates, which is useless when you have accommodations, etc already booked.

We are scheduled to head to Italy Sept 17, the first possible strike day. I purchased "Cancel for Any Reason" insurance, which I will use if things aren't resolved by Sept 15. And I purchased two more refundable tickets(for an extra $1000) on Transat just in case.

Thanks for the link SJ.

We have Amtrak tickets from Toronto home to Buffalo for 9/23, so I'm hoping I don't have to change flights. I, of course, bought non-refundable Amtrak tix, but do have trip insurance. I don't believe the trip insurance would cover the train tickets unless our flight was canceled by Air Canada. But also not sure if covered if canceled due to strike. I'm going to have to look at my policy. The train tickets would not be a huge loss, but I would have to purchase new train tickets & pay for another night(s) hotel stay in Venice depending on when the re-booked flight leaves.

Hello - I have an AC flight scheduled for 9/15 departure from San Francisco CA (US) to Montreal CN to Toulouse, FR arriving early 9/16. My return is via Swiss Air & United on 10/01. The entire ticket was booked through United, not AC. The strike info on the AC website indicates a possible start date of 9/17, but they are rebooking flights from 9/15 onwards. HELP! Why would AC offer rebooking for flights 2 days before the possible strike (the date of my ticket)? In your opinions, should I hit the panic button?

should I hit the panic button?

I'd be concerned. Canada's other airline-WestJet had a short strike in late June and WestJet started cancelling flights a couple of days early and getting planes home and parking them. You'll need a crystal ball to know what will happen with this strike. Better to be proactive and ask United for options.

My AC flight home to Toronto from Paris is scheduled for 9/21. Although it's not a certainty (yet), it does feel likely that the pilots will strike. (There's an interesting forum on Reddit; link below) Even if it's just for a short time - who knows? - I do suspect that my flight would get cancelled. I've booked a backup plan: a refundable one-way ticket with Air Transat, at more than double the cost of my full AC round trip flights. Ideally a settlement to avert a strike, so I can cancel Air Transat, but I assume I'll be on that AT flight and waiting to hear about a refund from AC. Fingers crossed, and I refuse to let this spoil my time in France!

https://www.reddit.com/r/aircanada/comments/1ev2bmm/strike_megathreadfaqs_please_read_before_posting/

Well, with my flight to Tokyo scheduled for this weekend, decided not to take any chances. Canceled my AC flight and will receive a flight credit. Re-booked on Cathay Pacific. Yes, disappointed to no longer have a direct flight but at least I won't be on pins and needles for the next few days! And have a flight credit I can use later.

This article suggests Air Canada could begin shutting down operations next Sunday.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/air-canada-prepares-to-shut-down-as-talks-with-pilots-union-near-deadlock-1.7030290