Air Canada strike looms in a year of transport ‘chaos’

In today’s The Big Story podcast, the deadline for the airline to reach an agreement in the labour dispute with its pilots is still a week away, but already flyers are scrambling for alternatives as Air Canada plans to start cancelling flights as soon as this weekend. Tens of thousands of passengers a day may find their flights cancelled, and some may end up stranded far from home.

John Gradek is a program coordinator in Supply Chain, Logistics and Operations Management at McGill University and an expert on the aviation industry. “Delta, American, United, signed massive wage increases over the last 18-24 months,” says Gradek, “and that has a cascading effect, and we’re seeing that cascading effect, both in the WestJet negotiations earlier this year, and very much so now with Air Canada.”

This is the latest in a series of labour disputes that have hit North American transport this year, from airlines to rail and ports. So why is this all happening now?