Air Canada said Tuesday it will gradually restart operations after reaching an agreement with the union representing 10,000 flight attendants to end a strike that had disrupted travel for about 130,000 passengers daily at the peak of the summer season.The deal was announced by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) early Tuesday after both sides returned to the negotiating table late Monday for the first time since the walkout began over the weekend, AP reported.The union said the agreement guarantees pay for work performed while planes are on the ground, one of the key issues behind the strike. “Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power,” it said in a statement. “When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau called restarting operations a complex process and said it could take seven to ten days for full service to resume. “Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days,” Rousseau said in a statement.The airline confirmed that flights would begin resuming Tuesday evening but warned some cancellations would continue until schedules stabilise. Mediation talks, it said, were based on the union’s commitment that flight attendants would immediately return to work.The deal came hours after the union had defied back-to-work directives, calling them unconstitutional. The Canada Industrial Relations Board had declared the strike illegal on Monday and ordered attendants to return to duty, but the union resisted. Leaders had also ignored an earlier weekend order to enter binding arbitration.The board, an independent tribunal, was directed by the government to intervene. Labour leaders have criticised Ottawa for repeatedly using laws to curb the right to strike, pointing out that similar measures had been imposed on port and railway workers in recent years. “Your right to vote on your wages was preserved,” the union said in an online post.Air Canada, which runs around 700 flights daily, had estimated that nearly 500,000 passengers were affected by cancellations since last Thursday. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that by Monday afternoon the carrier had cancelled at least 1,219 domestic and 1,339 international flights.Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, the country’s largest, said it would deploy extra staff to assist travellers as operations resume. Air Canada added that passengers impacted by cancellations are eligible for full refunds through its website or mobile app.