Less than 12 hours after it began, the federal government ordered Air Canada and its flight attendants into binding arbitration on Saturday, putting an abrupt end to the strike and lockout situation that left airplanes grounded and thousands of Canadians struggling to find alternate ways home.

Canada’s government forced Air Canada and its striking flight attendants back to work and into arbitration Saturday after a work stoppage stranded more than 100,000 travelers around the world during the peak summer travel season.