OTTAWA — Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu says her department needs more information from air carriers and unions to settle recent allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector.
On Thursday, the federal government published the initial findings of a probe it launched six months earlier into allegations made during collective bargaining between Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants.
More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike in August 2025, disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers.
Central to that labour dispute were claims from the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees that flight attendants were not being paid for some work, such as ground duties.
Employers in federally regulated industries like the airline sector must compensate employees at or above a bar set by the federal minimum wage.
Hajdu’s department said it did not find evidence that compensation practices in the airline sector fall short of those standards in the first phase of its probe.
But its report did flag that compensation practices for many part-time and entry-level flight attendants warranted “closer examination.”
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Hajdu said federal investigators heard stories from union members about times when they weren’t fully compensated for delayed flights. She said those anecdotes couldn’t be fully verified by pay records.
“That’s not to say it isn’t true. That’s just to say that the records aren’t matching,” Hajdu said.
“We asked both the unions and the employer to provide more detailed, granular data about the pay itself. And we just didn’t get sufficient information to really fully determine, one way or another, the validity of the argument.”
In a media statement, CUPE said that it was disappointed the probe “appears to have concluded that the abuse of unpaid work by multi-billion dollar airlines is not a problem worth fixing.”
While the Air Canada labour dispute triggered the probe, the investigation covered the entire Canadian airline sector.
Hajdu said investigators found one example in a small northern airline “where it looked like people were being underpaid.” She said the unnamed employer is working with her department on fixing that gap.
The report said compensation for flight attendants across most of the airline industry is covered by the “credit-based model.”
Rather than an hourly pay rate, the credit model calculates time spent in the air alongside per diems and other benefits that top up a flight attendant’s total compensation.
Hajdu said while it’s fair to look at whether this system is still working as intended, it’s a model most unions and airlines have agreed to over the course of decades of collective bargaining in Canada.
The head of enforcement and compliance at Hajdu’s department is expected to gather airline and union representatives in Ottawa later this month for a meeting to review the minimum wage requirements in detail.
The federal government is also asking airlines to self-audit their pay records to ensure all flight attendants are paid in accordance with the Labour Code.
Wesley Lesosky, president of CUPE’s airline division, said in a statement Thursday that Ottawa is putting “blind faith” in airlines’ willingness to act responsibly.
“If airlines could be trusted to do the right thing, we wouldn’t be where we are today, but that’s the only remedy the government has offered so far,” Lesosky said.
Hajdu said the federal government is taking a “collaborative” approach with unions and airlines but is prepared to order records or impose penalties if either party doesn’t live up to its side of the bargain.
“The next step, if they don’t comply, is that we will order them to,” she said.
The Canadian Press reached out to airlines for their response to the initial probe and to ask if they would comply with the self-audits. Most have yet to respond.
Air Canada vice-president of corporate communications Christophe Hennebelle said in an email that the airline welcomes the outcome of the federal government’s investigation and said it confirmed “there is no unpaid work at Air Canada.”
“The findings confirm that the credit‑based pay structure is compliant with the (Labour) Code, and that the compensation framework for flight attendants across the airline industry meets the Code’s standards,” Hennebelle said.
Air Canada will “fully participate” in future phases of the probe, Hennebelle added.
Porter Airlines director of communications and public affairs Brad Cicero also said in an email that the Toronto-based carrier takes Ottawa’s probe as affirmation the credit-based compensation system is “appropriate.” He said the airline will review the request for additional data “and determine how we can best support further review.”
Air Canada and the flight attendants’ union started an arbitration process last month to settle outstanding wage issues.
The tentative deal that ended the August strike would have increased wages for workers and established a pay structure for time worked when aircraft are on the ground.
Hennebelle said the contract offer “includes industry‑leading provisions that specifically recognize and compensate ground duties,” which he said “directly address the misperception of unpaid labour among flight attendants.”
Union members overwhelmingly rejected that deal in a September vote, but the parties reached agreements on other key parts of the contract and agreed not to initiate work stoppages while the wage issue is being ironed out.
Lesosky warned that unpaid work will be a “central issue” as airlines, including WestJet and Porter, sit down to bargain with flight attendants this year. He chastised the federal government for performing a series of studies instead of taking action.
Hajdu said the federal government will be paying close attention to the outcome of those talks between Air Canada, the union and the Canada Industrial Relations Board. She said she expects clarity on wage requirements will lead to better relationships between labour and employers in the sector.
“I think the CIRB will help both the union and Air Canada sort through the appropriate regime for compensation through their deliberations and we’ll be looking very closely at what the decision of the board is and how that unfolds,” Hajdu said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2025.
Craig Lord, The Canadian Press
