Air Canada flights grounded as govt intervenes in strike

All Air Canada planes remained grounded late Saturday despite the Canadian government intervening to end a strike by cabin crew members that saw hundreds of flights cancelled and triggered summer travel chaos.

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Canada’s largest airline, which has 130,000 daily passengers and flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, said that all flights would be cancelled until yesterday afternoon pending a decision by the country's industrial relations board.

Air Canada had stopped all operations after some 10,000 flight attendants began industrial action fueled by a wage dispute just after midnight on Saturday.

Hours later, Canada’s labour policy minister, Patty Hajdu, moved to invoke a legal provision that would halt the strike and force both sides into binding arbitration.

“This is not a decision that I have taken lightly. The potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and our economy is simply too great,” Ms Hajdu told journalists.

However, she said it could still take five to 10 days for Air Canada to resume regular services after the disruption.