Canadian airline WestJet begins cancelling flights as mechanics threaten strike

The Canadian airline WestJet has begun cancelling some flights in the run-up to a strike by aircraft maintenance technicians in order to prevent passengers and aircraft from being stranded in the event of a strike.

WestJet expects to cancel about 40 flights from Tuesday to Wednesday, affecting 6,500 passengers. The airline had canceled 20 flights, or 4% of its schedule, by Wednesday afternoon Eastern time, after already canceling five flights on Tuesday, according to tracking service FlightAware.

The low-cost airline said it was trying to find alternative arrangements for customers whose flights were cancelled.

WestJet and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association are currently negotiating an initial collective agreement for approximately 680 mechanics.

Earlier this week, WestJet asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to compel both sides to enter into binding arbitration. The union responded by informing the airline of its intention to strike as early as Thursday evening if the company does not return to the bargaining table in Calgary later this week.

According to Diederik Pen, the airline’s president, the latest contract offer would make WestJet’s maintenance technicians the best paid in Canada and would increase their take-home pay by 30 to 40 percent within a year.

The union says the airline is trying to enforce a collective agreement that its members rejected by 97.5% of the vote, and that WestJet is unable to fill vacancies due to low wages.

Founded in the 1990s following the model of Southwest Airlines in the United States, WestJet is Canada’s second-largest airline.