A ir Canada said it will gradually restart operations after reaching an agreement early on Tuesday with the union for 10,000 flight attendants to end a strike that disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of travelers.

In an interview with Reuters, Mike Rousseau blamed the impasse on a gap between the airline's offer and its union's demands.

At Toronto’s biggest airport on Sunday, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees tore up a back-to-work order to a cheering crowd.