When Air Canada pilots went on strike in September 1998 for 13 days, all of the carrier's more than 600 daily flights were grounded, stranding passengers and costing the airline C$133m ($96m; £71m) before a deal was reached.

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.

Air Canada flight attendants will defy the back-to-work order and remain on strike after the federal government ordered binding arbitration to end the work stoppage, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) told Radio-Canada on Sunday.