That feeling of being blindsided by canceled and delayed flights was a familiar refrain at Calgary International Airport on Saturday, just hours after nearly 700 members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) walked off the job late Friday afternoon despite their dispute being referred to binding federal arbitration.
Colleen Hood had hoped to take her Yorkshire terrier, Ellie, to his new home in Victoria, but found herself stranded in Calgary on Saturday – like 33,000 WestJet customers affected by a dispute that led to a strike by the airline’s mechanics.
“I wouldn’t have flown, but I thought the government would prevent a strike,” said Hood, 54, who arrived in Calgary from Kitchener early Saturday morning.
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The woman said she had been assured she would be able to connect to Victoria late Saturday night, but with more flights being cancelled throughout the day, she was unsure if that would actually happen.
“I can’t check my luggage because my flight will probably be canceled,” Hood said as her tiny black nine-week-old puppy rested contentedly at her feet.
“I have been a loyal WestJet customer for years, but now I don’t even want to fly anymore.”
That feeling of being blindsided by canceled and delayed flights was a familiar refrain at Calgary International Airport on Saturday, just hours after nearly 700 members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) walked off the job late Friday afternoon despite their dispute being referred to binding federal arbitration.
It comes at the start of a busy long Canada Day weekend.
On Saturday morning, WestJet executives expressed their anger at the union’s action, which resulted in the cancellation of 235 flights that day, in addition to the 175 flights canceled on Thursday and Friday.
Another 150 flights are expected to be cancelled on Saturday afternoon, it said.
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“We are outraged… we recognize the unnecessary impact this is having on Canadians – we are devastated. Canadians are missing wedding celebrations, well-deserved vacations, family reunions, important medical appointments,” said WestJet President Diederik Pen.
“Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to resolve the issue.”
However, WestJet officials said the situation was likely to get worse before it improved, with another 150 cancellations expected on Saturday as talks between the union and the airline broke down.
Against this background, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech described the union’s actions as incomprehensible.
“It is particularly disappointing that the collective bargaining process has already ended, which makes a strike completely absurd,” he said.
“We are now faced with a situation that makes it extremely difficult for our guests … it only causes harm and serves no purpose.”
Pen said WestJet will reimburse those who had their trips canceled and, “depending on the flight,” the cost of one night’s hotel stay, but is not required to pay any compensation beyond that under federal consumer protection rules.
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In a social media post late Thursday, Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said he was invoking his authority under the Canadian Labour Code to break the impasse between the two sides as time ran out before a Friday evening deadline.
WestJet has asked O’Regan and the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to intervene.
O’Regan issued a brief statement on Saturday morning saying he was reviewing the CIRB’s order and calling it “blatantly inconsistent” with the instructions he had given.
In a post on X on Saturday afternoon, O’Regan said the CIRB is independent of the government and he respects its authority.
“I will meet with the parties later today to discuss this matter,” he said.
Hoensbroech said WestJet was “waiting for the minister’s response as to what his clarification would be” and described AMFA’s actions as unprecedented and those of a “renegade” union.
AMFA said in a series of statements on Saturday that the CIRB’s wording made it clear that its strike was not illegal and blamed WestJet for the impasse.
“WestJet provoked this collective action through a long history of bad faith negotiations, only some of which are reflected in AMFA’s charges pending before the CIRB,” said AMFA President Brett Oestreich.
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“This failure to negotiate continues to this day, even after WestJet abruptly abandoned negotiations in Toronto and cancelled our scheduled meetings in Calgary.”
WestJet says it is ready to resume negotiations at any time.
Most of the numerous passengers stranded at Calgary International Airport blamed WestJet for the chaos, but said their main focus now was on reaching their destination.
“We just want to go home and take care of our cats … we hope we can get out of here, we hope,” said Fred Bultman, 70, who was trying to fly home to Windsor, Ontario, with his wife, Rosemary.
“It looked like the mechanics would go to arbitration and everything would be fine, but apparently that wasn’t the case.”
Saskatoon resident Morgan Speiser said her plans to spend the long weekend with friends in Kelowna were canceled.
“(WestJet) said they wouldn’t issue hotel vouchers, so my mom could come from Saskatoon and drive me (to Kelowna). But it looks like the whole long weekend is over,” the 23-year-old said.
And Aaron and Rhona Manese said they only found out about their flight delay early on Saturday morning as they were on their way to the airport and were unsure whether a flight would depart later in the day, given the series of cancellations.
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“We’re going to stay here all day and hopefully they’ll give us a place to stay (if we don’t leave),” said Aaron Manese, 46, of Dartmouth, NS, who spent a week in Banff.
Nearby, 57-year-old Grace Milana had made herself comfortable and hoped that she would be able to return to Cranbrook and home on a rebooked flight on Saturday evening.
“We don’t hear anything, there is no news, we don’t know what’s going on,” said Milana, who had taken a trip to Kelowna.
In Calgary, several dozen AMFA strikers formed a picket line on the 19 St. NE overpass above the Airport Tr.
The union is demanding improvements in pay and working conditions.
In an open letter to O’Regan, federal Labor critic Matthew Green described the minister’s binding arbitration decision as an outrageous attack on collective bargaining.
“This unprecedented move sets a worrying precedent that threatens the balance of power in industrial relations and the fundamental right of workers to freely and fairly negotiate their terms and conditions of employment,” Green said.
X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn
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