Calgary (with files from CBC/Canadian Press/Reuters) – WestJet Airlines’ mechanics gave the carrier a 72-hour strike notice, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association union said on Tuesday.
Thousands of WestJet customers are scrambling after the airline cancelled about 40 flights ahead of a possible strike.
Westjet serves both YVR Vancouver and YXX Abbotsford.
Westjet has had a rough year in labour negotiations including an agreement with maintenance engineers with the main carrier and WestJet Encore had issues with the pilots of the smaller carrier.
The strike, set to begin by 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, covers about 681 aircraft maintenance engineers and other skilled employees, the union said.
Some 6,500 travellers were booked on the cancelled trips, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. WestJet said the move reduces the potential for stranded passengers and ensures the carrier can avoid abandoning aircraft in far-flung locations.
Some 670 WestJet mechanics, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, are poised to walk off the job as early as Thursday evening after serving the airline with a strike notice earlier this week following months of negotiations.
The Calgary-based company has requested that the Canada Industrial Relations Board intervene with binding arbitration, which would see the labour tribunal hammer out a contract between the two sides — their first collective agreement. In the meantime, the board could bar a work stoppage.
Union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative deal last week and opposed the airline’s request for arbitration this week.
Passenger protection regulations entitle customers to a full refund in the original form of payment for the cancelled trips, said Gabor Lukacs, president of the Air Passenger Rights advocacy group.
If the strike goes ahead and WestJet cannot rebook passengers within 48 hours of the original departure time, the airline must “buy passengers seats on competitor airlines — at WestJet’s expense,” Lukacs said, citing the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
For trips cancelled before the possible work stoppage, he argued that the carrier must rebook customers on competitors’ flights if they cannot get them on board WestJet planes within nine hours of the slated departure. The airline would also be on the hook for meals and accommodations as well as compensation — distinct from a refund — of between $400 and $1,000, depending on the length of the delay.
