Federal Probe Into Airline Pay Finds No Widespread Violations, But Questions Remain

Ottawa: Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu says her department needs more detailed information from airlines and unions to resolve allegations of unpaid work in the Canadian airline sector.

On Thursday, the federal government released the initial findings of a six-month investigation triggered by labour disputes at Air Canada. More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike in August 2025, disrupting travel for thousands of passengers.

The strike followed claims by the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that flight attendants were not fully compensated for certain duties, including ground work. In federally regulated industries like aviation, employees must be paid at or above the federal minimum wage.

Hajdu said the first phase of the probe found no evidence that pay practices in the airline sector broadly fall below legal standards. However, the report noted that compensation for many part-time and entry-level flight attendants warrants “closer examination.”

“In some cases, union members described not being fully compensated for delayed flights,” Hajdu told The Canadian Press. “That’s not to say it isn’t true. It’s just that the records don’t fully match the anecdotes.”

She added that federal investigators requested more detailed payroll data from both airlines and unions but did not receive sufficient information to fully validate or dismiss the allegations.

CUPE expressed disappointment with the preliminary findings, saying in a statement that the report “appears to have concluded that the abuse of unpaid work by multibillion-dollar airlines is not a problem worth fixing.”

While the Air Canada dispute prompted the investigation, the probe encompassed the entire Canadian airline sector. Hajdu noted one example at a small northern airline where employees appeared to be underpaid. The employer is reportedly cooperating with the department to resolve the issue.

The Jobs Minister emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and that more data is needed before final conclusions can be drawn.