82 flights cancelled on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday

According to WestJet, 82 flights were cancelled over the next three days because a sudden strike by unionized aircraft mechanics.

“As a result of the union’s blatant efforts to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of Canadians over the July long weekend, WestJet has cancelled a total of 407 flights in order to maintain stability in its remaining operations,” a statement was released by the company late Saturday, it said.

“WestJet continues to seek intervention and is exploring all possible solutions.”

The statement said that more aircraft would be grounded and that only 30 aircraft would remain in service across the entire network by the end of Sunday.

It was said that 68 flights on Sunday, 11 flights on Monday and three flights on Tuesday were cancelled.

It was not immediately clear whether there might be further cancellations in the same period. Customers who planned to travel with the airline in the coming days were asked to check the status of your flight.

The most flight cancellations occurred on Saturday: 282 flights were cancelled.

Company officials said 49,000 people were affected by the industrial action and described the union’s actions as “destructive”.

The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) announced that its members had walked off the job on Friday afternoon because the airline’s “unwillingness to negotiate with the union made the strike inevitable.”

The move comes after the federal government issued a ministerial decree on Thursday for binding arbitration, following two weeks of turbulent discussions with the union over a new agreement and a vote against a provisional agreement in early June.

Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan issued a brief statement Saturday morning saying he was reviewing the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s order and calling it “clearly inconsistent” with the instructions he had given.

However, a new statement later Saturday said he respected the authority of the body, which he stressed was independent of the government.

In a post on X On Saturday night, O’Regan said he told them they needed to work with the Canada Industrial Relations Board to resolve their differences and reach their initial agreement. His social media posts offered no indication of what, if anything, the federal government might do in the next few days.

“There is a lot at stake here. Canadians need a solution to this problem,” he said.

In an update to its 680 members, the union published a letter from the board about its decision, which said that referring the matter to the minister “does not result in a suspension of the right to strike or lockout”.

Sean McVeigh, a WestJet aircraft maintenance technician who went on strike outside Terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson International Airport 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 picket participants.

“We take on a great responsibility and simply want to receive financial recognition for it,” he said.

Passengers at Pearson Airport who CityNews spoke to expressed their concerns.

“It’s pretty, pretty scary,” said one traveler.

“I’m disappointed at the moment. In a few hours we’ll see where we are,” added another traveler.

With files from The Canadian Press