WestJet pilots issue Friday strike notice as thousands plan for long-weekend travel

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A labour dispute at WestJet Airlines, Canada’s second-largest airline, could disrupt travel plans for thousands of travellers on the long weekend.

WestJet’s pilots’ union said late Monday night that 1,850 pilots could stop flying early Friday morning, as the Air Line Pilots Association negotiators push for a new collective agreement. The Calgary-based airline responded with a notice that it plans to lock out the employees on the same day.

Both sides say they will continue to negotiate ahead of the deadline.

WestJet said in preparation for a work stoppage it will prepare to operate a reduced schedule, and provide “flexible” flight change and cancellation arrangements. WestJet had scheduled 540 flights for Friday, and 457 for Saturday, according to Cirium data.

In a statement, the pilot’s union said Friday’s job action “could include grounding all aircraft and effectively shutting down operations.”

The union has said it is seeking better pay, and that pilots at discount subsidiary Swoop be paid the same as WestJet crew. The union says 240 pilots quit WestJet last year for better work elsewhere , including in the United States.

“After nine months of negotiating, management still fails to understand today’s labour market conditions, leading to a mass exodus of our pilots in search of better work opportunities, and more will follow if this agreement does not meet our pilots’ needs,” said Bernard Lewall, head of WestJet’s pilots union. “Without the economic and job security improvements our pilots require, WestJet will be parking planes, as they will not have enough pilots to operate them or accomplish its own growth strategy.”

In a statement, WestJet said it regretted the lockout notice, but it needs to minimize the risk of stranding passengers, crews and planes.

“Our commitment and priority remains at the bargaining table, where we will continue to work around the clock to come to a reasonable agreement as soon as possible, in an effort to prevent labour action,” Alexis von Hoensbroech, WestJet Group’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

WestJet said the union’s demands for pay that is closer to their U.S. counterparts “is not reasonable and is impeding the WestJet Group’s ability to reach an agreement in advance of the upcoming long weekend.

WestJet, owned by Onex Corp. of Toronto, has about 31-per-cent of the domestic market.

Duncan Dee, Air Canada’s chief operating officer until 2013, said ahead of a possible flight disruption the airline and its union would agree to move aircraft and crews to their home bases. This would avoid the expense and inconvenience of storing planes in other countries, and ensure employees are not stranded.

“They do not want to have an aircraft stuck in Cuba,” Mr. Dee said by phone.

WestJet was founded in 1994 as a small western Canadian low-cost airline known for an informal culture. Since then, the airline has added subsidiaries, a large fleet of planes and routes throughout Canada and the world. WestJet employs 15,000 people.

Mr. Dee said it is impossible to pin the labour dispute on the new owners and executives who run WestJet, because the workforce  is now unionized. There are big changes on both sides, Mr. Dee said.

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