(UPDATE: Aug. 20 @ 10:30 am) - Air Canada Rouge flights in and out of Kelowna have resumed quicker than expected after the four-day flight attendants strike.
This morning, the Air Canada Rouge flight from Toronto landed in Kelowna early at 10 am.
It turned around and departed Kelowna on time at 11:15 am to return to Toronto.
The second Rouge flight of the day from Toronto is scheduled to come in at 10:30 pm and turn around to return to Toronto shortly before midnight.
Yesterday, both flights were cancelled, even though the flight attendants strike ended early in the day.
Air Canada warned that it could take several days and up to a week to return to full service after the disruption.
Therefore, the Rouge flights resuming at Kelowna airport quickly is a pleasant surprise.
Air Canada Rouge serves Kelowna with twice daily flights between Kelowna and Toronto and once-a-week service between Kelowna and Montreal.
The strike was by Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants.
Air Canada Jazz flight attendants are covered by a different collective agreement.
Therefore, Air Canada Jazz flights between Kelowna and Vancouver and Calgary were no affected by the strike.
(Original Story: Aug. 19 @ 2:40 pm) - On Tuesday, both Air Canada Rouge flights between Kelowna and Toronto were cancelled.
Air Canada and its 10,000 striking flight attendants reached a tentative mediated agreement overnight Monday, but that doesn't mean everything goes back to normal right away.
It takes time to ramp up operations after a nearly four-day strike saw more than 2,300 flights cancelled and more than 500,000 passengers affected by those flights being scrubbed.
Thus, the 11:15 am Air Canada Rouge Kelowna-Toronto didn't take off and the Kelowna-Toronto red-eye at 11:35 pm was also listed as cancelled for Tuesday.
So far, over the nearly four-day disruption, 12 inbound flights were cancelled and 12 outbound flights were cancelled at Kelowna airport.
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Looking ahead to Wednesday, it's not known if one or both of the Kelowna-Toronto flights will happen or not.
Kelowna International Airport doesn't know either.
It's awaiting word from Air Canada as to when flights get put back on the schedule.
Earlier today, Air Canada indicated it could take several days and up to a week for the full schedule to resume.
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During all this, short-haul carrier Air Canada Jazz continued to fly from Kelowna to both Vancouver and Calgary.
Jazz flight attendants are covered by a separate collective agreement than Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Rouge.
Jazz (or Express as it's sometimes known) flies about 20% of the overall Air Canada network traffic.
Kelowna airport and Air Canada are advising passengers booked on an Air Canada Rouge flight out of Kelowna to either Toronto or Montreal check with the airline to see if the flight is taking off or not.
Don't go to the airport if you don't have a confirmed flight.
Also, even if you're flying from Kelowna to Vancouver or Calgary on Air Canada Jazz and you're connecting to an Air Canada mainline or Air Canada Rouge flight farther afield, part of your itinerary may be cancelled.
So, check beforehand.
Air Canada is still offering refunds, credits for future travel and rebooking on an available flight on another airline if your flight is cancelled.
But, again, check on how that may work in your particular case.
Terms of the tentative agreement between Air Canada and its flights attendants have not been released because flight attendants still have to vote on the offer.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is urging flight attendants to accept the deal because it's "transformative."
The 'transformative' likely refers to Air Canada agreeing to pay flight attendants for the unpaid work they've done in the past.
Unpaid work was the biggest sticking point in the dispute.
Up until now, flight attendants were only paid for the hours the plane was actually flying.
They were not paid for the hour or hour-and-a-half before the flight when they showed up for crew briefing, plane safety checks, greeting boarding passengers and helping them with their luggage.
As well, they were not paid after the plane landed and they helped passengers depart.
