Air Canada flight attendants end strike after reaching agreement with airline

(AFP) The strike by Air Canada flight attendants has "ended," the flight crew union announced Tuesday, citing "a preliminary agreement" reached after a night of negotiations with the airline, which confirmed the gradual resumption of operations.

Some 10,000 flight attendants walked off the job after midnight Saturday, causing cancellations that affected roughly half a million passengers.

The union challenged a regulatory court order requiring them to return to work on Sunday, forcing Air Canada to halt plans to partially resume service.

However, after resuming talks Monday night, the union said it had reached a tentative agreement with the airline, which it would submit to its members for approval.

"The strike is over. We have a preliminary agreement that we will present to you," the Air Canada branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) stated on Facebook on Tuesday.

"We are obliged to inform our members that we must cooperate fully with the resumption of operations," the text added.

Air Canada said in a separate statement that it "will gradually resume operations" after reaching a "mediated agreement" with CUPE.

The airline said the first flights were scheduled for Tuesday night, but warned that full service might not be restored for 7-10 days.

"Restarting a major airline like Air Canada is a complex task. Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for patience and understanding from our customers in the coming days," Air Canada president Michael Rousseau said in a statement.

Neither the union nor the airline immediately provided details on the proposed agreement.