Discussions between WestJet and its pilots are still ongoing, but job action – including a strike – at the major airline is still on the table.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) continued talks with the company throughout the weekend. The meetings are expected to continue on Monday.
A 72-hour strike notice hasn’t been filed, officials say, but that doesn’t rule out the future possibility.
If that happens Canada’s passenger rights rules dictate that airlines must offer to book passengers of cancelled flights on a flight with another airline within at least 48 hours of their departure time.
After that point, passengers can receive a refund but may also accept a voucher with the airline.
“Just deal with it as it happens,” said Gabor Lukacs, Canadian air passenger rights advocate.
“Once there’s a strike, that triggers the obligation by WestJet to rebook passengers and offer alternate transportation. If WestJet fails to comply with that obligation, then I would buy a ticket in a different airline and make WestJet pay for it because they breached their contractual and statutory obligations.”
Lukacs suggests documenting all interactions with the airline.
“The quality of your documentation will heavily affect your ability to enforce your rights down the line,” he said. “Don’t expect the airline to play by the book. They won’t, they won’t play by the rules, they’re going to try to find every possible trick on the books to avoid paying.
“Don’t be a pushover. Stand your ground.”
WestJet said on May 8 that it has a plan in place to “minimize what could be significant impacts to guest travel.”
Job protection, pay and scheduling are among the key points being discussed by the company and the union.
Without a contract, ALPA says WestJet pilots are continuing to leave the airline for competitors, putting a continued strain on the aviation industry, which it says is already suffering from a major labour shortage.
ALPA represents approximately 1,600 flight crew at WestJet and its subsidiary Swoop.
The earliest opportunity the union had to file strike notice was at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, but since that hasn’t happened, the possibility of strike has been pushed back.
– With files from the Canadian Press
