WestJet strike: Canada Day service from Saskatoon comes to a standstill

WestJet flights from Saskatoon will be grounded over the Canada Day long weekend after the airline’s mechanics walked off the job on Friday, citing the company’s “negotiating weakness” as the reason.

On Saturday, the Calgary-based airline said it had cancelled 407 flights over the long weekend in an effort to “maintain stability.”

Most WestJet flights arriving or departing from Saskatoon Airport on Sunday were cancelled.

On Saturday, more than half of WestJet’s departing flights were cancelled and all but two of its incoming flights never reached YXE.

The airline said it intends to reduce its fleet to about 30 aircraft by Sunday evening.

The Airplane Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents the company’s mechanics, said WestJet’s stubbornness during wage negotiations made the strike “inevitable.”

Reacting to the move on Saturday evening, WestJet President Diederik Pen called the strike “reckless.”

“Every flight cancellation we have to make is linked to hundreds of passengers affected by the ongoing reckless actions of this union,” Pen said.

The industrial action came after union members rejected a collective agreement with WestJet earlier this month and two weeks of tense negotiations between the two parties.

The federal government then intervened and forced WestJet and the union to enter into binding arbitration.

Friday’s strike came as a surprise to many WestJet flights and travelers are now wondering if they will be stranded far from home.

Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan had said the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s instruction was “obviously inconsistent” with the instructions he had given. On Saturday, he spoke again and called on both parties to work with the board to reach an agreement.

“There is a lot at stake here. Canadians want this problem solved,” he said on X.

Most WestJet flights scheduled for Monday were still shown as active on the Saskatoon airport website on Sunday, but that could change if the strike continues.

-With files from the Canadian Press