To assist/prepare pax flying AC from YYZ here is an update taken from press releases;
- Toronto: Teamsters Local Union 647's 800 workers at Gate Gourmet walked off the job as of 00:01 April 16.
- Implicated *A airlines; Air Canada, SAS, United, Air India, TAP
- On AC flights of less than 2 hours, do not expect food or drink service in Y, despite the airline saying it will try to offer a prepackaged snack and water service. AC will try to provide J class pax with snack basket and water service.
- AC states that on flights longer than 2 hours within North America;
- customers in signature class, business class, and premium economy class will be served hot meals but with fewer menu options,
.pre-ordering will be suspended,
-special meal offerings will be limited to Kosher. “Passengers with dietary restrictions are advised to plan ahead”. Therefore if you are diabetic, gluten intolerant, Vegetarian, bring your own food. Muslims are allowed to eat Kosher food, so going Kosher only addresses the 2 of the most frequent specialty requests of kosher and halal. I believe the kosher prep is already contracted out, so it should be easy to maintain the supply during the strike. The other food options are prepared inhouse. (It will be interesting to see what Air India does as it must have vegetarian options.
- On international flights, AC says there should be no impact. Past experience indicates that there will be inadequate or missing snack baskets, and limited beverages.

My takeaway is that it would be prudent to purchase a bottle of water and a sandwich at the airport for a longhaul, to eat prior to flying and to bring my own kit kats. I am taking a short trip to florida next week. I am routing through YUL to obtain A330 service and full catering.
I will stick my neck out and predict that this strike ends in 10 days or less. GC is offering a 12% salary increase.