WestJet strike ends: Airline works to get its planes back in the air

The WestJet mechanics strike is over, but the airline says it will take some time before Canadians are mobile again.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Eastern Time on July 1, WestJet sent out a press release confirming that it had reached a tentative agreement with the striking Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and that union members “will immediately return to work as planned.”

The CBC reports the The deal calls for an immediate wage increase of 15.5 percent, followed by a 3.25 percent increase next year and 2.5 percent in each of the last three years of the five-year term, the union said.

The strike forced WestJet to cancel around 832 flights, affecting around 110,000 passengers. It is unclear whether any of these flights will be reinstated.

“The airline will begin work to resume operations in a safe and timely manner,” WS said in a press release. “Given the significant impact to WestJet’s network over the past few days, the return to normal flight operations will take time and further disruption is expected in the coming week as the airline moves aircraft and crew back into position.”

WestJet said the airline was forced to ground 130 aircraft at 13 airports across Canada in response to the strike.

“The damage to Canadians and our airline is enormous, and a quick resolution was necessary. We are not taking victory laps on this outcome, but we will sleep better tonight knowing that further damage was prevented,” said Diederik Pen, President of WestJet Airlines and Group Chief Operating Officer.

At around 2am, Transport Minister Seamus O’Regan released the following statement on X:

“WestJet and AMFA have reached a tentative agreement because Canadians’ patience was stretched too thin. Collective bargaining is the responsibility of the parties. The government’s responsibility is to facilitate and mediate those negotiations. The parties have finally done their job.”

In a significant move, WestJet said there would be no further industrial action as both parties had agreed to mediate the contract if union members rejected the tentative deal.

“Lack of clarity from the government and the CIRB’s decisions allowed a strike to occur despite binding arbitration,” WestJet said. “With no path to resolution, both parties took important steps to find common ground and reach an agreement.”

The strike had devastating consequences for consumers, with travelers taking to social media in droves to report on missed weddings, funerals and other tragic events.

“We would like to thank our guests for their patience during this uncertain and stressful time,” said Pen. “I would like to personally thank our WestJetter teams who have also been thrown into uncertainty and have once again demonstrated their diligence, dedication and resilience.”

“Today we found a way forward and reached a tentative agreement with AMFA that ends the strike,” WestJet CEO Alexis van Hoensbroech said on his X/Twitter feed. “I deeply regret the impact this has had on our guests. We will now work to rebuild our wonderful airline as quickly as possible.”

“We are grateful and relieved to announce that the aircraft maintenance engineers represented by AMFA and WestJet have successfully negotiated a contract for the next five years,” the union said in a statement on its website. “This ends our lawful strike against the company, effective immediately.”

“As a direct result of the solidarity of our members, AMFA was able to reach a second interim agreement (TA2) which provides significant improvements to both the current working conditions and those provided for in the first interim agreement.

“TA2 provides for immediate salary increases, a full restoration of the WestJet Savings Plan (WSP) and improved employee benefits.”