WestJet Airlines announced on Wednesday that it started consolidating and canceling flights as it anticipates a strike by its aircraft maintenance technicians. It states that the airline aims to avoid leaving both planes and passengers stuck in the event of a strike. WestJet also said that it is already looking for alternative arrangements for its affected passengers.
The airline expects around 40 canceled flights from Tuesday to Wednesday, affecting around 6,500 passengers. By Wednesday afternoon, WestJet canceled 20 flights on that day and 4 flights on Tuesday. Gabor Lukacs, president of the Air Passenger Rights advocacy group, said that passengers should get a full refund in the original form of payment for the canceled flights.
Both WestJet and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association are still negotiating the initial collective-bargaining agreement affecting 680 mechanics.
Earlier this week, WestJet sought the involvement of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board asking to have both sides into a binding arbitration. However, the union responded by saying that it is going to strike as early as Thursday unless the airline returns to the bargaining table in Calgary this week.
Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan said, “So in the short term, there may be some flights disrupted, but I’m hoping that — I’m hoping that cooler heads will prevail.”
WestJet, backed by OnexCorp, is at the receiving end of employees asking for higher salaries and improved working conditions. WestJet President Diederik Pen said that the newest contract offer makes WestJet maintenance engineers the highest-paid in the country. This would raise their take-home pay by 30% to 40% within a year.
The union, on the other hand, says that the company is trying to impose a contract that union members rejected with a 97.5% vote. The union added that low pay prevents WestJet from receiving enough applications to fill spots.
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