ISTANBUL

Air Canada began canceling flights in anticipation of a potential strike by its flight attendants, a move that could disrupt travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

A full shutdown of the airline, the largest in Canada, could affect roughly 130,000 travelers each day.

Nearly 300 flight attendants -- double the usual number -- failed to show up for work Thursday night, the airline noted through the US social media company X Thursday night.

"This will result in additional cancellations," the airline noted.

"We regret the inconvenience to customers," it added.

Mark Nasr, Air Canada's chief operations officer, announced that the airline has started a phased suspension of both Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations.

"All flights will be paused by Saturday early morning," he further said.

Nasr stated that this approach is intended to ensure a smooth restart, adding that, under ideal conditions, it will take about a full week to complete.

He explained that the first wave of cancellations, affecting several dozen flights, would primarily impact long-haul international flights scheduled to depart Thursday night.

"By tomorrow (Friday) evening, we expect to have canceled flights affecting over 100,000 customers," Nasr said.

By the end of Friday, they expect around 500 flights to be canceled.

"By the time we get to 1 a.m. (0500GMT) on Saturday morning, we will be completely grounded," he added.

The grounding could leave 25,000 Canadians stranded daily while abroad, Nasr noted.