Westjet flight cancellations increase, strikes continue

Travelers flying with WestJet continue to watch as the airline cancels more flights due to a sudden strike by its mechanics union.

The Calgary-based airline said it had cancelled 407 flights over the Canada Day long weekend in an effort to “maintain stability.”

Most flights were cancelled on Saturday, with 282 trips on WestJet aircraft being cancelled.

“Every flight cancellation we have to make represents hundreds of passengers affected by the ongoing reckless actions of this union,” said Diederik Pen, president of WestJet Airlines, in a statement released late Saturday night.

The flight cancellations came after members of the Airplane Mechanics Fraternal Association walked out of work Friday afternoon, saying WestJet’s “unwillingness to negotiate with the union made the strike inevitable.”

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.

“Big delays, phone line dead. ‘Unscheduled maintenance’, that’s not good. I’m sitting in the YYC lounge. Can I go home?” Nanaimo resident Luke Antrim said on X.

In an update to its members, AMFA leadership released a letter from the Canada Industrial Relations Board on its decision, saying that the ministry’s referral “does not result in a suspension of the right to strike or lockout.”

In response, WestJet expressed the company’s displeasure with these measures and stated that the company would hold AMFA 100 percent accountable for the unnecessary stress and costs it caused.

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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2024.

Bwith files from Christopher Reynolds in Montréal