Thousands of travellers in distress after WestJet mechanics strike leads to flight cancellations

Thousands of air travelers across the country had their Canada Day long weekend plans disrupted on Saturday after WestJet Airlines cancelled more than 350 flights following an unexpected strike by its unionized mechanics.

WestJet said more than 30,000 passengers were affected by flight disruptions on Saturday and that another 250,000 travelers could be affected if the strike continues over the long weekend.

Hundreds of WestJet mechanics walked off the job Friday night after their union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), announced a strike.

On Saturday, travelers crowded the WestJet counter in Terminal 3 of Toronto Pearson International Airport, waiting impatiently to hear if their flights had been canceled.

Villamor Torres and Mary Jane Herrera arrived at the airport after trying to rebook their canceled flight over the phone. The Toronto couple were excited to start their vacation in the Cayman Islands on Saturday when they received an email at 9:40 a.m. informing them their flight was canceled.

“We are trying to figure out what to do – we are in the process of booking a new flight but they said they will not pay us compensation if we book a new flight,” Ms Herrera said.

At the airport, even more confusion awaited her. “They say they will get us a new flight, but when we ask which one, they don’t answer,” Torres said.

“It’s chaos,” said Amy Morris, who was visiting the country for the first time with her family from Atlanta, Georgia. “We had a hiking trip planned to Banff tomorrow, we’ll lose at least the entire first day … this is not a good introduction to Canada.”

The family of four was en route to Calgary when they learned of the cancellation on a connecting flight to Toronto. “We’re not getting any information from WestJet at all – they said we’d get a new flight within a couple of hours, but we haven’t heard anything,” Ms Morris said. “It was a last family vacation, the kids are moving out of state, and it was supposed to be our last hurrah.”

Some travelers arriving at Pearson were pleasantly surprised that their WestJet flights had not been canceled.

“We haven’t had any problems with our flight so far,” said Dave Johnson, president of the Bowling Association of Ontario, who was travelling to Winnipeg with 40 other players for a national championship. “They already checked our luggage … I thought they were picketing and blocking the doors.”

Sean McVeigh, a WestJet aircraft maintenance technician who went on strike outside Pearson Airport’s Terminal 3 on Saturday, said the strike was an attempt to force the airline to return to “respectful negotiations.”

McVeigh said the union regrets any inconvenience caused to passengers.

“However, the reason they (the passengers) may have missed a flight or had to cancel it is because WestJet is not sitting respectfully at the negotiating table,” he said, along with about 20 other strikers. “We have a huge responsibility and we just want financial recognition,” he said.

WestJet said another 150 flights could be cancelled by Saturday evening if there is no solution to the strike.

“We are extremely outraged by these actions and will hold AMFA 100 percent accountable for the unnecessary stress and costs they have caused,” Diederik Pen, president of WestJet Airlines, said in a statement.

The union said WestJet’s “negotiating weakness” made the strike inevitable and accused the airline of implying retaliation against union members.

The country’s second-largest airline asked Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan and the Canada Industrial Relations Board to take immediate action.

On Saturday, Mr O’Regan said he was reviewing a decision by the Industry and Commerce Committee to refer a dispute between WestJet and the AMFA to binding arbitration – a process in which a third party advises on the terms of a collective agreement.

“I will take further steps to protect the interests of the employer, the union and all Canadians travelling this national holiday weekend,” Mr. O’Regan said in a statement posted on X.

However, in a statement released later that day, he said he respected the authority of the body, which he noted was independent of the government.

“I told them (WestJet and AMFA) that they need to work with the Canada Industrial Relations Board to resolve their differences and finalize their initial agreement,” O’Regan said after the meeting Saturday night.

The airline’s CEO, Alexis von Hoensbroech, blamed the situation on a “renegade union from the US” trying to gain a foothold in Canada.

Von Hoensbroech said negotiations with the union had ended for the airline after the minister referred the dispute to binding arbitration.

“This makes a strike completely absurd, because the real reason for a strike is to put pressure on the negotiating table,” he said. “If there is no negotiating table, there is no point, then there should be no strike.”

He added that the union had rejected a wage offer that would have made the airline’s mechanics the “best paid in the country.”

Regardless of the outcome of the contract dispute, Gábor Lukács, a Canadian passenger rights lawyer, believes that WestJet is legally obliged to offer passengers of canceled flights a reasonable and prompt alternative.

“Under passenger protection regulations, they have to rebook your flight on another airline or buy a ticket on a competitor,” he said, adding that this must be done within the first few hours of a cancelled flight. “If WestJet is unavailable for several hours, they are failing in their obligation.”

Passengers who cannot reach the airline or are not offered a clear alternative travel plan should book a flight at their own expense and send WestJet the bill, Lukacs recommends. Most importantly, however, “you should document every message and exchange with the airline.”

With reports from the Canadian Press.