The strike, which is expected to disrupt travel plans for more than 100,000 passengers, is the flight attendants' first since 1985.

The Canadian carrier said it expects to call off 500 flights by the end of Friday. Air Canada said it was suspending its schedule and trying to get passengers booked with other airlines to limit disruptions.

Air Canada wants to reinforce the gender wage gap by forcing Air Canada flight attendants – 70% of whom identify as women – to accept a wage offer less than one-third what Air Canada offered its pilots less than a year ago.

Canadian Labor Minister Patty Hajdu said on Friday that she met jointly with Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), urging both sides to work harder and remain at the negotiating table to reach a deal and avert a potential strike.

Most obviously, travellers who land midway through multi-leg journeys at the time when a strike is announced will probably not catch their connecting flights. Air Canada will have to compensate them by paying for a flight on a competing airline, but the disruptions to people’s travel plans and work engagements would likely be cripping.