WestJet union ends strike after more than 800 flight cancellations, reaches deal with carrier – Everything you need to know – Airlines/Aviation News

Canada’s second-largest airline, WestJet, has cancelled 829 flights from Thursday, June 27 to Monday, July 1, which is also considered the busiest travel weekend of the season. The reason is a strike by 680 workers engaged in the airline’s daily inspection and repair tasks. However, following recent developments, the union representing striking WestJet Airlines mechanics has negotiated a contract with the carrier, ending their strike immediately on Monday, July 1.

Of the 829 cancelled flights, 410 flights, or almost 50 percent of the total, were cancelled on Sunday alone.

Thousands of people affected

The cancellation of hundreds of flights tends to affect the lives of thousands of people, leading to the cancellation of business meetings, vacations, and others. Moreover, it has certainly had an impact on the airline’s revenue figures as well as the daily lives of the workers.The flight cancellation is believed to have affected the plans of about 110,000 travellers over the Canada Day long weekend and prompted the carrier to demand action from the federal government.

Among the many commuters was Trevor Temple-Murray, who was waiting in a car with his wife and two-year-old son in the airport parking area in Victoria, British Columbiahad to postpone their flight with less than a day’s notice. Temple-Murray said we would just have to wait while we tried to catch a plane to Calgary. Their 6:05 p.m. flight had been canceled and they wouldn’t know until the evening whether the flight scheduled for 7 a.m. the next day would take place or not. “There are a lot of angry people out there,” Temple-Murray said, pointing to the terminal.

Another student, Marina Cebrian, a 10th-year exchange student, said she was supposed to return home to Spain early on Sunday but would not return to her family until Tuesday after suffering three flight cancellations.

Why were WestJet employees on strike?

Workers responsible for daily inspections and repairs of the airline’s operations walked off the job Friday night over a pay increase, despite a binding arbitration directive from the labor minister.

WestJet Airlines president Diederik Pen said in a statement Sunday that the airline has received a binding arbitration order and is waiting for the government to urgently clarify that a strike and arbitration cannot exist simultaneously. “This is something they have committed to addressing and, like all Canadians, we are waiting,” Pen added.

The union’s objective with this strike is to reach an agreement through negotiation rather than arbitration, a path it has always rejected. According to the union, WestJet would lose less than C$8 million (US$5.6 million) due to its salary expectations compared to what the company has planned for the first year of the collective agreement, which is the first contract between the two companies. He admitted the benefits would exceed industry wages colleagues in Canada and more consistent with those in the United States. To this, WestJet says it proposed a 12.5 percent salary increase during the first year of the contract, as well as a 23.5 percent compound salary increase for the remainder of the 5.5 percent term. years.

Is the airline back on the runway?

The airline negotiated a contract today, July 1, to end the strike with immediate effect, while the union said the agreement covered the next five years, but without further details on the new salary agreement.

Westjet said members would return to work to restore the network after the airline had to park 130 planes at 13 airports across Canada. The airline is expected to experience further disruption over the coming week as it returns planes and crew to position.

“WestJet and AMFA have reached a tentative agreement as the patience of Canadians has run out,” Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan said in a message published on X. The minister had urged the union and the company airline to resolve their differences and reach an agreement.

(with contributions from the agency)