Photo: The Canadian Press
Travelers wait for their flights at Calgary International Airport as WestJet mechanics go on strike in Calgary on Saturday.
A sudden strike by WestJet’s mechanics union is disrupting the plans of more than 49,000 travelers, including those flying to or from airports in Kelowna, Kamloops and Penticton.
The Calgary-based airline has already cancelled a total of 407 flights over the weekend in an effort to “maintain stability.” As of Sunday morning, 17 WestJet flights arriving at Kelowna International Airport during the day and 15 departing flights were listed as cancelled.
These include flights to and from Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Regina, Victoria and Toronto.
The cancellations also extended to Kamloops, where three WestJet flights to and from Calgary were reported as cancelled at YKA on Sunday, and to Penticton, where two flights to and from Calgary were also cancelled.
Sunday’s cancellations follow the cancellation of earlier flights at YLW and YKA on Saturday. Of the 407 flights cancelled nationwide so far, 282 occurred on Saturday.
The travel disruptions 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 an offer from WestJet earlier this month and the two parties engaged in two weeks of tense negotiations that led to the federal government intervening and forcing WestJet and the union to enter into binding arbitration.
AMFA leadership released a letter from the Canada Industrial Relations Board about its decision, which said the ministry’s referral “does not result in a suspension of the right to strike or lockout.”
WestJet said it was “extremely outraged by these actions and will hold AMFA 100 percent accountable for the unnecessary stress and costs it caused.”
Canadian Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan had said that the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s instruction was “obviously inconsistent” with the board’s instructions. On Saturday, he spoke out again and called on both parties to work with the board to reach an agreement.
– with files from The Canadian Press
