A crippling strike by Air Canada flight attendants that grounded thousands of flights over wages and unpaid labor is the latest blow to the airline industry's compensation system that does not fully pay cabin crews for their hours at work.

Air Canada flights will resume Tuesday evening, it said. Details were sparse on the tentative deal between the company and its flight attendants union, CUPE.

Air 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.