This airline cancels over 400 flights post sudden mechanic union strike, 49,000 passengers affected

Canada's 2nd largest airline, WestJet, said it canceled 407 flights affecting 49,000 passengers aft the attraction workers national announced it went connected strike.

The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said its members started to onslaught Friday evening due to the fact that the airline’s “unwillingness to negociate with the union” made it inevitable.

The astonishment onslaught affecting planetary and domestic flights came aft the national authorities issued a ministerial bid for binding arbitration connected Thursday. That followed 2 weeks of turbulent discussions with the national connected a caller deal.

WestJet said it volition proceed to parkland craft done Sunday for the agelong play culminating successful Canada Day connected Monday. The hose has astir 200 craft and says they’ll run astir 30 by Sunday evening.

The airline’s CEO, Alexis von Hoensbroech, enactment the blasted for the concern squarely connected what helium said was a “rogue national from the U.S.” that was trying to marque inroads successful Canada.

Von Hoensbroech said that, arsenic acold arsenic the hose was concerned, bargaining with the national had travel to an extremity erstwhile the authorities directed the quality to binding arbitration.

“This makes a onslaught wholly absurd due to the fact that the crushed you really bash a onslaught is due to the fact that you request to workout unit connected the bargaining table,” helium said. “If determination is nary bargaining array it makes nary sense, determination shouldn’t beryllium a strike.”

He added the national had rejected a declaration connection that would person made the airline’s mechanics the “best-paid successful the country."

In an update to its membership, the national negotiating committee referenced an bid by the Canada Industrial Relations Board that does not explicitly barroom immoderate strikes oregon lockouts arsenic the tribunal undertakes arbitration.

Sean McVeigh, a WestJet craft attraction technologist picketing Saturday astatine Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 3, said the onslaught is an effort to unit the hose to instrumentality to a “respectful negotiation.”

McVeigh said the national regrets immoderate inconvenience caused to passengers.

“However, the crushed they (passengers) person perchance missed a formation oregon had to cancel is owed to the crushed that WestJet is not respectfully sitting down astatine the array and negotiating,” helium said alongside astir 20 others connected the picket line.

“We instrumentality connected a batch of work and we would conscionable similar to beryllium appreciated financially,” helium said.

At Pearson, WestJet passengers Samin Sahan and Samee Jan said they had been readying to permission Saturday with extended household members connected a travel to Calgary that had been planned for six to 8 months.

Sahan said they had received emails earlier successful the time telling them their formation had been rescheduled for Monday, but they went to the terminal anyway. He said their efforts to question clarification combined with the onslaught had near their question plans up successful the air.

“This inaction is hurting a batch of people, their ain institution arsenic good arsenic their customers who volition apt nary longer beryllium their customers ever again,” Sahan said.

Jan called the concern “sad.”