Travellers at Winnipeg's James Richardson International Airport were feeling the impact of a brief but disruptive illegal strike by Air Canada ground workers in Toronto and Montreal on Friday.
Several Winnipeg-Toronto flights, both inbound and outbound, were cancelled.
David Chapman, who was travelling from Red Lake to Thunder Bay and then Prince Edward Island, was stranded in Winnipeg. His his flight from Thunder Bay to Toronto was cancelled and he was diverted to Winnipeg.
"The worst thing was calling my 10-year old daughter this morning and telling her that dad's not going to be home to do the thing we want to do for March break," he said. "You know, so we're going to have to delay that and hopefully nothing else will happen and they'll get things resolved."
Air Canada baggage handlers and ground staff in Toronto began returning to their jobs after the airline obtained an injunction to end a wildcat strike that threw the country's air transportation system into chaos.
Air Canada, which has been involved in labour problems over the past year with its pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and now ground crews, suspended three workers at Toronto's Pearson Airport on Thursday evening, setting off a chain of events that led to the illegal action.
The workers had apparently applauded sarcastically as Labour Minister Lisa Raitt walked through the airport on Thursday evening.
The employees were suspended for 72 hours. After several hours of noisy protests outside Terminal One at Pearson International Airport, they relented an went back to work but not before Air Canada had to cancel at least 68 flights and delay scores more.
A group of students from Margaret Barbour Collegiate in The Pas were hoping their trip to Europe would not be delayed or cancelled Friday morning. "We've planned for this thing for over a year, and it's a lot of money," said parent Rod MacCharles. "And the kids have a limited amount of time to take advantage of spring break. So yeah, I am concerned. And I'm angry."
MacCharles said the airline workers seem not to care that their illegal actions have an impact on the public. "They're baggage handlers. It's irresponsible. If you don't like your job, get another one."
The job action began Thursday evening and left hundreds of passengers in limbo after they had to disembark from several flights already on the tarmac and head back to the terminal.
A spokeswoman for the airline, Isabelle Arthur, said that it would seek a back-to-work order. In the meantime, she said, "We?re putting in place a flexible rebooking policy, so customers can make changes without penalties." She confirmed that the illegal job action by ramp employees was causing delays and cancellation.
"We are asking customers to check status of their flights."
Flights to several Canadian destinations including St. John's, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and internationally to Frankfurt, Germany were cancelled or delayed.
The walkout showed no sign of abating Friday, with dozens of ground workers gathered outside the arrivals deck of Toronto's Terminal One. Many cheered as colleagues arriving for the day shift chose to join the protest.
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