WestJet Airlines pilots stand on a picket line at Toronto's Pearson Airport on Monday May 8, 2023. The travel plans of WestJet customers are up in the air after its pilots' union issued a 72-hour strike notice last night. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
MONTREAL – The travel plans of WestJet customers are up in the air after its pilots’ union issued a 72-hour strike notice Monday night.
The gambit by the Air Line Pilots Association starts a countdown to a flight crew walkout at 3 a.m. on Friday morning, just ahead of the trip-laden May long weekend.
Vancouver resident Debby Raffard says she’s been anxiously checking social media for updates about her May 22 flight to Hawaii, which she booked with WestJet in November.
She says she is beyond upset and frustrated with both sides as her vacation hangs in limbo, including a non-refundable condo booking.
WestJet subsidiary Swoop notified customers there is no impact on operations so far, but the head office says it has started preparations to cut the flight schedules of both the flagship and budget carriers.
Karl Moore, an associate professor with the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, says union and management are playing hardball under pressure from inflation, labour shortages and rising U.S. pilot wages on the one hand and a pandemic-battered aviation sector on the other.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2023.
