Air Canada said Wednesday it will begin a gradual suspension of flights to allow an orderly shutdown of the country’s largest airline as it faces a potential work stoppage by its flight attendants

Some Air Canada flights that were scheduled to take off today will be cancelled as the airline braces for a work stoppage this weekend. The union that represents around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants is poised to strike just before 1 a.

Air Canada will start suspending flights Thursday and fully halt operations by the weekend due to a looming flight attendant strike.