WestJet strike to continue until deal reached, union says, as flight cancellations rise

The WestJet Airlines mechanics’ strike, which resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights over the Canada Day long weekend, will continue until an agreement is reached, the union president said Sunday to Reuters.

Bret Oestreich, president of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), said the two sides would meet again with a mediator on Sunday. The union represents about 680 WestJet workers, including aircraft maintenance engineers, who went on strike Friday after 97 percent of members rejected a wage deal reached in May.

WestJet has canceled nearly 700 flights, upending plans for nearly 100,000 passengers as the unexpected strike enters its third day during the busiest travel weekend of the season.

“We just want to get back to the negotiating table,” Oestreich said. “The strike will be in effect until we reach an agreement.”

He said the two sides are separated by a first-year economic difference of about seven percent, or less than $8 million over a roughly four-year contract.

687 flights canceled

WestJet, which is owned by Onex Corp, was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

Since Thursday, tracking service FlightAware shows that WestJet has cancelled 687 flights scheduled between then and the end of the Canada Day long weekend.

As of Sunday morning, 77% of the day’s trips had been cancelled, with WestJet leading the global list of cancellations among major airlines on Saturday and Sunday.

The workers, whose daily inspections and repairs are essential to the airline’s operations, walked off the job despite a binding arbitration directive from the federal labor minister.

Both the airline and AMFA accused the other side of refusing to negotiate in good faith.

WestJet Airlines president Diederik Pen highlighted what he called the “continued reckless actions” of a union that was making “blatant efforts” to disrupt Canadians’ travel plans, while the union said the Calgary-based company had refused to respond to its latest counter-proposal.

At a news conference at WestJet’s Calgary headquarters Saturday morning, Pen and the airline’s president and CEO, Alexis von Hoensbroech, repeatedly said they were outraged and devastated by the strike, with von Hoensbroech calling it “totally absurd.”

“The reason why we are striking is because we have to put pressure on the negotiating table. If there is no negotiating table, it makes no sense,” he said.

He said that because of these actions, the situation “will only get worse in terms of difficulty and magnitude.”

“So this is a very destructive measure, essentially carried out by a rogue American syndicate that is trying to establish itself in Canada and is adopting very, very unusual practices here,” von Hoensbroech said.

In a message posted Sunday afternoon on X, formerly known as Twitter, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe called on the federal government to “end the work stoppage today.”

“With hundreds of flights canceled and tens of thousands of Canadians in limbo, the federal government must take action to ensure work continues through the binding arbitration process,” Moe said.