WestJet strike throws long weekend travel into chaos

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Colleen Hood had hoped to bring her Yorkshire terrier Ellie to its new home in Victoria but ended up stranded in Calgary Saturday, among 33,000 WestJet customers impacted by a dispute that’s led to a strike by the carrier’s mechanics.

“I wouldn’t have flown but I thought the feds were preventing a strike,” said Hood, 54, who’d arrived in Calgary from Kitchener early Saturday morning.

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The woman said she’d been assured she’d would be leaving on a connecting plane for Victoria late Saturday night but with more flights being cancelled throughout the day, she wasn’t sure that would happen.

“I can’t check my baggage in because probably my flight will be cancelled,” said Hood as her black, tiny 9-week-old puppy rested contentedly at her feet.

“I’ve been a dedicated WestJet patron for years but I don’t even want to fly now.”

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That sense of being blindsided by cancelled and delayed flights was a familiar refrain Saturday at the Calgary International Airport, hours after nearly 700 members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) walked off the job late Friday afternoon despite their dispute going to federal binding arbitration.

It comes at the start of a busy Canada Day long weekend.

On Saturday morning, WestJet executives expressed anger over the union’s move that had led to the cancellation of 235 flights that day, on top of 175 of them being scrubbed over the Thursday and Friday.

Another 150 flights were expected to be cancelled Saturday afternoon, they said.

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“We’re outraged … we acknowledge the unnecessary impact this is having on Canadians — we’re devastated. Canadians are missing wedding celebrations, well-deserved holidays, family reunions, important medical appointments,” said WestJet president Diederik Pen.

“Rest assured we’re doing everything we can to get this resolved.”

But WestJet officials said matters would likely get worse before there’s any improvement, with another 150 cancellations likely to occur Saturday as talks between the union and carrier have broken off.

Given that, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech called the union action unfathomable.

“It’s particularly disappointing … the bargaining process has actually ended so this makes a strike totally absurd,” he said.

“We are now faced with a situation that makes it extremely difficult for our guests … it’s doing nothing but damage but serving no purpose.”

Pen said WestJet will provide refunds for those whose trips are cancelled and overnight hotel accommodation “depending on flights,” but under federal consumer regulations are under no obligation to provide further compensation.

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In a late-Thursday social media post, federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said he was invoking his authority under the Canada Labour Code to resolve the impasse between the two sides as the clock ticked down toward a Friday evening deadline.

WestJet has requested intervention from O’Regan and the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).

O’Regan issued a brief statement Saturday morning saying he was reviewing the order by the CIRB, calling it “clearly inconsistent” with the direction he provided.”

In a post on X Saturday afternoon, O’Regan said the CIRB was independent from the government and that he respects its authority.

“I will be meeting the parties later today to discuss this matter,” he stated.

Hoensbroech said WestJet was “waiting to hear from the minister for what (his) clarification would look like,” and called the AMFA’s actions unprecedented and that of a “rogue” union.

In a series of statements Saturday, the AMFA said it’s clear by the CIRB’s own language that their strike is not illegal and blamed WestJet for the impasse.

“WestJet provoked this collective action by a long history of bad faith bargaining only some of which is reflected in AMFA’s charges pending before the CIRB,” stated AMFA President Brett Oestreich.

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“This failure to bargain persists to this date with WestJet’s abrupt cessation of negotiations in Toronto and the cancellation of our scheduled meetings in Calgary.”

WestJet says they’re open to resuming negotiations at any time.

Among scores of passengers stranded at Calgary International Airport, most put the blame for the chaos on WestJet but said their main focus was simply on reaching their destinations.

“We’d just like to get home and take care of our cats … we’re hoping to get out of here, we hope,” said Fred Bultman, 70, who, with wife Rosemary was trying to fly home to Windsor, Ont.

“It looked like the mechanics were going to arbitration and everything was OK, but apparently not.”

Saskatoon resident Morgan Speiser said her plans of spending the long weekend with friends in Kelowna appear dashed.

“(WestJet) said they’re not giving hotel vouchers so my mom might come out from Saskatoon and drive me (to Kelowna). But it looks like the whole long weekend is gone,” said the 23-year-old.

And Aaron and Rhona Manese said they only heard of their flight’s delay on the way to the airport early Saturday morning and weren’t certain a departure later in the day would go ahead given the cascading cancellations.

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“We’ll be staying the whole day here and hopefully they’ll give us lodging (if we don’t leave),” said Dartmouth, N.S., resident Aaron Manese, 46, who spent a week in Banff.

Nearby, Grace Milana, 57, was hunkered down hoping a re-booked flight Saturday night would get her to Cranbrook and home.

“We don’t hear anything, there’s no messages, we don’t know what’s going on,” said Milana, who’d taken a trip to Kelowna.

In Calgary, a few dozen AMFA strikers formed a picket line on the 19 St. N.E. overpass above Airport Tr.

The union is demanding improvements in compensation and working conditions.

In an open letter to O’Regan, federal NDP Labour critic Matthew Green said the minister’s binding arbitration order was an outrageous attack on collective bargaining.

“This unprecedented move sets a concerning precedent that threatens the balance of power in labour relations and the essential right of workers to negotiate the terms of their employment freely and fairly,” stated Green.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn

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