CTV Scott Hurst joins me now good morning Scott walk us through what we're learning good morning Renee of course this is something that a lot of Travelers might want to listen to potentially if they have flights with Air Canada not just this week but return flights maybe even later than that as Air Canada now says it is finalizing contingency plans to suspend most of its operations and that could begin as early as this weekend meaning flights could soon be grounded by Sunday saying unless an agreement is made this week between the airline and the pilots a 72-hour strike notice or lockout notice could be issued the airline pilots Association which represents more than 5400 Pilots recently voted 98% to approve a strike mandate they're in a position to walk off the job as early as September 17th Union Representatives have said before the vote send a clear message to management that Pilots are willing to take job action to secure a better deal the two sides have been negotiating since summer of 2023 last year the pilots are looking for Air Canada to address retirement and scheduling concerns as well as salar something Air Canada says is a significant sticking point South of the Border however the four biggest US Airlines and their pilots have secured New Deals over the past year and a half with some flight Crews earning up to double what their Air Canada counterparts are making according to Union representatives and they're looking for something in line with their uh Neighbors South of the Border according to the airline talks continue but the parties right now remain far apart Renee so Scott what kind of travel chaos could a potential strike lead to Renee right now if you're in and out and if you're on your flight and back potentially this week it might not be much of a concern but if you're leaving just this week and don't have plans to come back until after that that is where you might get into trouble so if you're just starting a vacation and heading out for more than just a couple days you might want to listen up and you might want to start thinking about alternative plans a complete shutdown could leave thousands of passengers stranded from coast to coast and Beyond of course as Air Canada does fly many uh flights internationally Air Canada and its subsidiary Rouge operate close to 670 flights daily Renee unless they reach a settlement the suspension could affect according to Air Canada more than 110,000 passengers daily once a complete shutdown is in place and could take upwards of a week to resume normal operations if a complete shutdown does occur according to Air Canada so a ripple effect that could take quite some time Air Canada says right now it is allowing customers bookings between September 15th and the 23rd to make changes at no cost but really quite a concern for any passengers who might be booked on Air Canada right now Renee oh dear all right C Scott Hurst reporting thanks Scott thanks Renee