Air Canada began canceling flights Thursday ahead of a possible strike by its flight attendants that could impact hundreds of thousands of travelers. A complete shutdown of the country's largest airline threatens to impact about 130,000 people a day.

Air Canada is cancelling flights from Thursday, as the country's largest carrier winds down service ahead of a looming Saturday strike by its more than 10,000 flight attendants.

Air Canada said it had reached an impasse with the union as the two sides remained far apart in contract talks