The recent Air Canada flight attendants strike started on August 16, 2025, at 12:58 a.m. Eastern Time.

Quick Scoop

  • Official strike start: August 16, 2025 (Saturday).
  • Exact time: 12:58 a.m. ET , when the walkout formally took effect and flights began being suspended.
  • Who was on strike: Around 10,000 flight attendants represented by CUPE, covering Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge.
  • Impact: Air Canada suspended essentially all mainline and Rouge operations, with hundreds of daily flights cancelled and large numbers of passengers affected.

In practical terms, if your flight was scheduled any time on or after the early hours of August 16, 2025 , it fell within the strike period unless specifically reprotected or operated by partner carriers like Air Canada Express.

TL;DR: If you’re checking whether your trip was hit by the “big” Air Canada strike, the key reference point is just before 1 a.m. ET on August 16, 2025.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.