How the Air Canada strike impacts travel insurance 

An ongoing strike by Air Canada flight attendants has already affected more than 500,000 passengers, meaning your clients may have questions about their travel insurance coverage. 

Travellers who booked their tickets after the strike was announced may find their delayed or cancelled flight claims are not covered.  

“Travel insurance only covers airline strikes if purchased before the strike is announced,” says Matt Hands, vice president of insurance at Ratehub. “Once a strike becomes public, insurers consider it a ‘foreseen circumstance’ and will deny coverage for related trip disruptions.”

Roughly 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants began their strike just before 1 a.m. ET Saturday after months of stalled negotiations. The union representing Air Canada’s flight attendants called the strike to help negotiate for better wages and protest against what it calls unpaid work.  

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board, acting on a directive from the federal government’s Minister Patty Hajdu, attempted to force an end to the strike on Sunday by invoking a section of labour law and declaring the strike unlawful.

“Canadians rely on air travel to connect families, workers, and communities to each other and the world. Despite significant supports from the government, these parties have been unable to resolve their differences in a timely manner. The government must act to preserve stability and supply chains in this unique and uncertain economic context,” Minister Hadju wrote.

So far, flight attendants have defied the order. 

“We will not be returning to the skies this afternoon,” Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) national president Mark Hancock said at a Monday news conference. “If it means folks like me are going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it.”

Thus far, thousands of flights have been cancelled, according to media reports. With cancellations for the foreseeable future, even if flights begin start up again soon, it could take some time for operations to return to normal as the airline parses through backlogs of cancelled and delayed flights.

Will policyholders’ claims be covered for strike activities? 

If applicable, coverage for strike disruptions typically falls under trip cancellation or trip interruption benefits on a travel insurance policy. 

Trip cancellation reimburses non-refundable costs when a strike force travellers to cancel before departure. Trip interruption covers additional expenses like rebooking and accommodations when strikes disrupt a trip that’s already in progress, he says. 

“Coverage varies significantly between insurers, including what qualifies as a covered strike and maximum payout limits,” Hands says. “Always research policies carefully to understand strike coverage specifics and benefit caps, or contact your provider directly to confirm whether your situation would be covered.” 

Many clients may not realize they don’t have coverage, he adds, nevermind the specifics about what is included or excluded from coverage. 

For example, a recent TD Insurance survey found only 51% of polled travellers venturing domestically outside of their home province or territory plan to purchase travel insurance, and only 42% plan to buy emergency travel medical coverage. Forty-four percent of Canadians surveyed said they didn’t buy travel medical insurance because they believe — mistakenly, travel insurance sources have told CU — they are already covered by their provincial or territorial health coverage. 

Regarding coverage for the Air Canada strike, “whether or not a customer’s travel insurance policy will cover costs incurred from flights cancelled or trips interrupted by the Air Canada strike will depend on the type of policy and when the tickets and policy were purchased,” says Daniel Ivans, Rates.ca insurance expert. 

“It will be important for consumers to understand the details of their policies, and there may be some confusion as to which policies cover what,” Ivans says. “The strike is affecting thousands of travellers. Brokers should anticipate the questions they may have about their policies and be prepared to help them navigate through this stressful time.” 

Approximately 130,000 customers are impacted each day the strike continues, Air Canada stated.