Air Canada travellers share worries and frustrations ahead of possible pilot strike

Ticketholders are sharing worries and frustrations as the clock ticks towards what Air Canada is calling an "increasingly likely" pilot strike.

The airline says some services could be affected as early as today, including cancellations for holiday packages, narrowed luggage allowances and the grounding of some aircraft.

The airline said it could issue a 72-hour lockout notice to force a work stoppage, while the union may issue notice of a strike if it doesn't reach a deal before Sunday. In either case, a complete shutdown of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations by Sept. 18 could affect more than 110,000 customers and disrupt tonnes of cargo each day, according to Air Canada.

Air Canada said "excessive" wage demands have stalled talks with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents the airline's 5,200 pilots. The Air Canada pilots' union is fighting for higher wages, which it says are only half of what its Canadian and North American peers make, in most cases.

Response to passenger concerns

Air Canada said in a press release on Monday that it is finalizing contingency plans for an "orderly shutdown" of flying. The airline has urged the government to intervene with arbitration to avert travel disruptions if talks fail, but the government said it's leaving the two sides to negotiate for now.

"We are taking all measures to mitigate any impact, but the reality is even a short work stoppage at Air Canada could, given the complexity of our business operating on a global scale, cause prolonged disruption for customers," Michael Rousseau, president and CEO of Air Canada, said in a statement on Thursday.

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Earlier this week, Air Canada said it had no choice but to shut down operations if no deal is reached.

"We understand and apologize for the inconvenience this would cause our customers," reads a Monday press release from the company. "However, a managed shutdown is the only responsible course available to us.”

In addition, the airline said it is trying to give customers "greater certainty and the opportunity to reduce the risk of being stranded," offering options for customers whose flights may be affected by a strike, such as through rebooking or deferring travel at no cost under certain conditions and providing information about their rights under Canada's Airline Passenger Protection Regulations. All customers whose flights are cancelled by Air Canada will be eligible for a full refund, it added.

Here's what passengers had to say as they face the possibility of widespread travel disruptions.

Disney plans upended

The looming stoppage has added uncertainty and headaches for passengers like Kevin Strom of Vaughan, Ont.

Strom told CTVNews.ca that a few months ago, he planned a big trip to Orlando, Fla., to celebrate his 50th birthday on Sept. 22. He said he booked round-trip Air Canada tickets for him and his wife, mother and two brothers back in June, and that they are all set with Disney park tickets, resort check-ins and car rentals.

Now, because of the threat of the pilot strike, he's decided to book five extra refundable tickets with competitor Porter Airlines earlier this week, paying even more for the one-way fare, with cancellation insurance. Due to the possible change in itinerary, he said he and his family have each had to book an extra day off work.

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Strom said he would prefer to stick with Air Canada tickets since he finds that they're cheaper, but he booked the extra Porter tickets as a worst-case contingency.

"I feel that it is unfair that Air Canada will not allow you, under the circumstances, to either cancel or change the flights without charging fees," Strom said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca on Friday.

He said that Air Canada will allow them to rebook flights, but that the replacements offered don't work with their itinerary.

"I turn 50 next Sunday. This is the first time my family has gone anywhere on a trip in over 35 years, and all that I wanted was for my family to all be together," he said.

Stuck in Asia

Sharon Spurvey of Halifax says she is currently in Bangkok on a business trip and is scheduled to return on Sept. 20. She said she's been offered a return date four days behind schedule if the stoppage occurs, and she's frustrated.

"That is unacceptable," she wrote in an email Thursday to CTVNews.ca, noting that she's been away from her family for two weeks already, and is eager to get home.

"If I'd have known this was happening when I booked the flights, I would have used a different carrier," she wrote. "If this is the service I am getting, I can't imagine how people who travel infrequently are being treated."

She's now looking at other options, even if they're pricier.

'Very stressful time'

Jenn Farnes of Bradford, Ont., is worried that she and her husband will miss their long-awaited cruise, putting them out more than $10,000 for the trip. She said they are scheduled to fly to Lisbon on Tuesday evening.

"This is a very stressful time for my husband and I as we have saved for 2 years to go on a Mediterranean cruise," Earnes wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Thursday.

"This isn't right at all."

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Farnes said she and her husband aren't getting any answers. When she contacted Air Canada, she said the airline told her she just had to wait and see, but she said she can't fly out later because she will miss the cruise.

"We don't have options to wait it out or rebook," Farnes wrote. "We have a ship we have to catch or it leaves without us with no refund at all."

'Unreliable information'

Victoria Eriksson of Oshawa, Ont., says she and a group of five friends booked their trip together and are scheduled to travel to Las Vegas on Monday morning. When they contacted Air Canada asking what would happen if their flight were cancelled, she said she got conflicting information from staff and isn't happy with the options the airline presented to her.

She said the agent told her she could take a future travel credit that would expire on Sept. 24, 2025, or rebook her trip at a later date. For the second option, she said they would be required to cover the cost of the price increase.

Although she and her friends would like to keep their current travel package, she said they are now looking at other options.

"We had made arrangements for our kids and pets for next week," she said in an email to CTVNews.ca. "It isn't easy for us to rearrange all of that. Not to mention trying to plan it with others who we were supposed to travel with."

She and her group are considering rebooking at a later date, she said, but were told it would cost them $700 more for the same trip.

"While we would love to look at another airline, Air Canada is only offering us a future travel credit if we decide not to go so we don't have the money to book with another airline. Our hands are tied with the options we were given and it feels like whatever we choose, Air Canada will profit even more off the customers who are now scrambling to figure out what to do."

With files from CTVNewsToronto.ca's Phil Tsekouras