WestJet flight cancellations upend travellers’ plans over Canada Day long weekend

An unexpected strike by unionized mechanics at WestJet Airlines led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights over the Canada Day long weekend, upending the travel plans of more than 110,000 people across the country.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Calgary-based airline said it had cancelled more than 800 flights, and planned to continue grounding its fleet until it was down to about 32 operating planes.

The aircraft maintenance engineers walked off the job Friday evening after a strike notice was issued by their union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents about 680 workers at WestJet. In a statement issued Sunday, the union emphasized its legal right to strike, citing a ruling by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, and said its bargaining committee was standing by to reconvene discussions with WestJet.

Both WestJet and the union have accused the other side of refusing to negotiate in good faith. In a statement, WestJet blamed the union’s strike action for the flight cancellations.

“Missed vacation-goers, stranded business travellers and long-weekend family reunions have been disrupted due to AMFA’s action to strike, and we are sincerely sorry to the tens of thousands of Canadians that have experienced the compounding impacts of this unnecessary work stoppage,” said WestJet president Diederik Pen.

Droves of frantic travellers approached the WestJet kiosk in Terminal 3 of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport looking for answers on Sunday, only to be told they should call a phone number for assistance.

Carlos Enriquez became stranded in Toronto Sunday morning while trying to get home to St. John’s. He had been visiting family in Wisconsin for a month and had taken two Delta flights, with a connection in Minneapolis, before arriving in Toronto to make the final leg of his trip.

He said he found out his WestJet flight had been cancelled before starting his journey, but when he tried to call the airline, he couldn’t reach anyone.

“It was mission impossible, even Tom Cruise would fail at this,” he said.

Following advice he received from Delta, he decided to keep his flights to Toronto and deal with a WestJet agent in-person upon landing. About 40 minutes after stepping into the airport, Mr. Enriquez said all he had received was a phone number that a WestJet employee had written down for him. When he tried to call it, the line was busy.

“I don’t have time to deal with an unresponsible company. They don’t care if you are stuck in the airport. I cannot be here for four days. It’s cheaper to pay whatever the fare is to fly home,” he said.

Concertgoers Hayley Vezeau and Mattie Leslie had their Saturday evening quickly derailed when they wound up on hold with WestJet after seeing Niall Horan perform at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The Dalhousie University students said they found out their flight home to Halifax had been cancelled at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and immediately tried calling the airline. After staying on hold until 2 a.m., the 21-year-olds went to sleep and tried calling again at 7 a.m. They said they were kept on hold for another four hours before giving up and travelling to Pearson in the hopes of speaking with someone in-person.

Needing to return home for work and tired of waiting on the phone, Ms. Vezeau said the friends booked an alternate flight through Air Canada. However, she said the lack of response from WestJet could leave them out of more money than they had budgeted for the trip.

“I’ve heard that it won’t be covered, that it’s not considered WestJet’s fault. So, I guess we’re not getting reimbursed either. A cute little $100 trip is now a $700 trip,” she said.

The airline said Sunday it can maintain minimal service with 30 to 50 aircraft, operating around 150 flights a day.

Bret Oestreich, president of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, said the two sides planned to reconvene with a mediator on Sunday. He said the strike began after 97 per cent of the union’s members rejected a pay deal reached in May.

“All we want to do is to go back to the table,” he told Reuters in an interview Sunday. “The strike will be in effect until we get an agreement.”

Mr. Oestreich said the airline and the union are separated by a first-year economic difference of about 7 per cent, or less than $8-million for a roughly four-year contract.

WestJet said it has offered a 12.5-per-cent wage hike in the first year of the contract, and a compounded wage increase of 23 per cent over the rest of the 5½-year term.

Last week, in an effort to avert the strike, federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to resolve the contract dispute through binding arbitration, a process where a third party deliberates on the terms of a collective agreement.

On Friday, the board ordered the contract to be finalized through arbitration, but also stated that Mr. O’Regan’s referral did not take away the union’s right to strike. Mr. O’Regan has since said, in a post to social-media platform X, that he respects the board’s authority, and would continue to meet with both sides on the issue.

After receiving the binding arbitration order, WestJet said it was awaiting “urgent clarity from the government that a strike and arbitration cannot exist simultaneously.”

“This is something they have committed to address and like all Canadians we are waiting,” the company wrote on Sunday.