flight attendants

Air Canada braces for a strike

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Your options if you have an Air Canada ticket

Air Canada’s negotiations with CUPE, the union representing 10,000 flight attendants on Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, aren’t going well.

And if no agreements can be made, a strike is expected to begin Saturday, August 16 at 01:00 ET.

In preparation, the carrier began a “phased wind-down” of its operations on Thursday and will be canceling hundreds of flights by this weekend.

For those with booked flights, the airline is offering options for refunds, flight changes and alternate travel arrangements.

If you’re booked on Air Canada with plans to travel between August 15 and August 18, you can change your flight for free if you purchased an Air Canada ticket or redeemed points for an Aeroplan flight reward no later than August 13, 2025.

You can rebook for another date between August 21 and September 12, 2025, or cancel your itinerary and put the unused portion towards a future travel credit.

If you keep your current booking and your flight is cancelled due to the labor dispute, Air Canada says it will attempt to rebook you on another flight, including those operated by other airlines, but is warning travelers that due to the summer travel peak, “rebooking you within an acceptable timeframe is low. If your travel is disrupted, you can always choose a refund.”

Airlines once had “stewardess-nurses.” So did trains.

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The first ‘stewardesses’ on airplanes also had to be registered nurses.

In 1930, Boeing Air Transport Office – which later became United Airlines – was only hiring male pilots. But Ellen Church, a registered nurse with a pilot’s license, wanted to fly.

So she convinced the airline to test out having nurses on board to help passengers feel more confident about flying.

The job description had plenty of requirements. And lots of restrictions.

In addition to being a registered nurse, those early ‘stewardesses’ could weigh no more than 115 pounds, and they could not be taller than 5 feet, 4 inches. They had to be single and they had to be under 25 years of age.

As for the job description, these early stewardess nurses had to care for and reassure sick and frightened passengers.

The stewardess-nurses had to take tickets, load and unload luggage and help fuel the plane. They also had to pass out lunches, clean the aircraft, and tighten the bolts that held the seats to the floor.

Trains had ‘stewardess nurses’ too

Stewardess nurses weren’t limited to planes.

According to a story from the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia, not long after airlines began hiring nurses, train lines did too.

Union Pacific hired seven nurses in 1935 to staff the Challenger, a deluxe coach train, and by 1938 at least 94 nurses working on four railroads.

New film documents flight attendants fight for rights

Flight attendants,

(Courtesy Delta Air Lines)

The new “Fly With Me” film tells the story of women hired as ‘stewardesses’ in the days when airline policies dictated everything from their weight to their marital status.

(Courtesy United Airlines)

More importantly, the film documents those women who went on to fight – and win – battles for equal pay, gender and race equality, and workplace reform.

(Courtesy Alamy)

“So many of the women who became flight attendants were young, ambitious, and adventurous,” said Sarah Colt, who directed the film with Helen Dobrowski. “Some thought they’d do the job for 2 or 3 years and then follow societal norms of the 50s and 60s and get married and move on. But the job became much more of a career for them,” said Colt.

On the job, pilots – who were all male – could be married.

Stewardesses could not.

On the road during layovers, each pilot had a single hotel room. Stewardesses had to share.

Stewardesses could not wear eyeglasses and had to ‘retire’ once they reached age 32 – long before they had enough years on the job to secure a pension.

“No other job offered as much freedom with such a high cost of conformity,” said Julia Cooke, the author of “Come Fly the World: The Jet Age Story of the Women of Pan Am,” in the film.

It didn’t take long for stewardesses to get savvy. And their fight for rights in all aspects of the job mirrored, matched, and helped push forward what was taking place in the broader women’s and equality rights movement.

The film includes almost two hours of first-hand accounts, archival footage including everything from vintage airline commercials to TV news reports, as well as comments and insights from historians and legal experts.

And step by step “Fly With Me,” takes us through important milestones in the history of the flight attendant rights movement, expertly making connections to world events underway at each stage.

(Courtesy San Diego Air and Space Museum)

Where to see “Fly With Me”

“Fly With Me” premieres as part of the American Experience series on Public Broadcasting TV, PBS, Tuesday, February 20, 2024, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings). The film will also stream on PBS.org and the PBS App.

Travel Tidbits from Airports Near You

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Lots of fun – and important – events taking place at airports this week.

Airports have been celebrating Valentine’s Day all week.

Flight attendants picketed at airports across the country on Tuesday and Alaska Airlines flight attendants voted to authorize a strike.

Indianapolis International Airport (IND) figured out what to do with the basketball court that appeared in the Civic Plaza.

And Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is now home to the largest American Express Centurion Lounge.

Travel Tidbits from airports here and there

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Flight attendant unions mark an anniversary

Shuffleboard (!) at United Airlines’ new DEN lounge

Sheep at London’s Gatwick Airport

Formula 1 car at Schiphol Airport

Pancakes for a cause at Vancouver Int’l Airport