en.Wedoany.com Reported - WestJet, Canada's second-largest airline, has received a 72-hour strike notice. If the company fails to reach an agreement with nearly 4,400 flight attendants, travel plans across Canada could be thrown into chaos this upcoming civic holiday weekend and during the busy summer travel season. Cabin crew members could walk off the job as early as Sunday, August 2, as negotiations between the Calgary-based airline and thousands of its flight attendants have failed to bridge the divide. According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Reuters, the core dispute centers on unpaid work.
The union is demanding that flight attendants be compensated for all on-duty time from sign-in to sign-out, a provision not included in the current contract. This labor tension continues to plague WestJet, which operates roughly 30% of domestic flights and has a mainline fleet of over 150 aircraft (data from ch-aviation). The unpaid work issue is not unprecedented in North American aviation, as major U.S. carriers have also faced challenges over pay structures that compensate flight attendants only for flight hours rather than total duty time. With both sides at an impasse, the Canadian government has appointed mediators to help expedite negotiations.
CUPE President Alia Hussain stated that flight attendants hope to reach a fair agreement without resorting to a strike, but significant differences remain between the parties on key issues. In a newly released statement, she said: "We have been clear about what needs to change and are working toward a fair deal. There is still time to avoid a strike. We will continue negotiating around the clock until this is resolved."
Negotiations are ongoing, but the two sides have yet to reach an agreement, prompting WestJet to receive a 72-hour work stoppage notice at a time that coincides with one of the busiest summer travel weekends in Canadian aviation. WestJet subsequently issued a statement from CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech: "The decision to issue a lockout notice in response to union action was not made lightly. We sincerely regret the inconvenience and uncertainty this has caused our passengers."
Receiving a strike notice does not mean a strike is inevitable; its purpose is to inform the airline that industrial action could begin as early as 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, August 2. The notice applies only to WestJet's mainline services, and flights operated by its regional subsidiary WestJet Encore are not affected. The airline has introduced several measures allowing passengers to rebook free of charge to alternate dates, aiming to ease pressure on the system in the event of potential flight cancellations on Sunday.
Passengers booked on codeshare flights with partners such as Delta Air Lines will not be affected; if WestJet flights are impacted, affected passengers will be rebooked or refunded as requested. Flight attendants unable to return to their home base will be accommodated in hotels or flown to other Canadian cities on available flights. Both the union and WestJet hope to reach an agreement before the weekend to avoid a strike by thousands of flight attendants, grounding one of North America's largest airlines and crippling Canada's aviation system during the civic holiday long weekend.
