As Air Canada strike looms, passengers mull their options

Passengers across the country are bracing for the possibility of an Air Canada pilot strike, as more than 5,000 pilots with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) could issue strike notice this weekend.

The airline said Monday that some services such as freight are already being affected, and it would have to start grounding aircraft as early as Friday ahead of a potential strike notice on Sunday.

Air Canada said it's increasingly likely that there will be a work stoppage, and that it will begin an orderly shutdown of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge once 72-hour strike or lockout notice is given.

Unless an agreement is reached, either side could issue notice as early as Sunday, which could lead to a full work stoppage as early as Sept. 18. 

Among those who are tracking the potential job action is Ryan Schaap and his wife, who plan to honeymoon in Asia.

He says the prospect of a work stoppage around the time they are set to take off on their trip, which includes stops in Vietnam and Japan, has led to "quite a bit of stress, quite a bit of worry, a little bit of anxiety."  

They're scheduled to fly Air Canada from Vancouver to Singapore on Sept. 24, but the potential of an airline shutdown has forced them to make some last-minute contingency plans.

"We decided upon ourselves that we weren't going to put this off," he said. "It was a now-or-never situation and we started looking into alternative plans and backup arrangements."

The couple has now booked two refundable alternative tickets to Singapore out of San Francisco.

"I don't know what type of Planes, Trains and Automobiles situation that we could find ourselves in heading to San Francisco, but we're flying to Singapore one way or another," he said, referring to the popular comedy movie where the protagonists have to scramble to find travel arrangements.

So what should travellers do if they're scheduled to fly Air Canada in the coming days?

Air passenger rights advocate Gábor Lukács says passengers should take a wait-and-see approach.

"If you change your booking, rebook your ticket, or seek a refund now before Air Canada cancelled your flight, you are at Air Canada's mercy, their policies and so on," he said.

"Once Air Canada cancels your flight, then the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, the Montreal Convention, the Carriage by Air Act all come into play, and you have far more rights."