More than 1,000 WestJet pilots across Canada are preparing for the picket lines this month as a union claims the employees have been overworked and underpaid, while the airline argues they’re being fairly compensated.
The potential strike has thousands of travellers on edge amid what has already been a year of delays and flight cancellations from several Canadian airlines, including WestJet.
Complaints to the Canadian Transportation Agency have sky-rocketed recently, with more than 42,000 filed in the last year, nearly 2,000 of which involved WestJet in December alone. Many of the complaints came after passengers were denied compensation for cancelled flights due to a major snowstorm.
With the threat of a strike looming, president of the non-profit Air Passenger Rights organization Gabor Lukacs says the need for improved passenger protection rules has increased. He says a labour dispute should be considered a situation within the airline’s control, prompting questions about the strike’s impact and whether passengers will be compensated in the event of cancellations and delays.
“Ultimately, this is really troubling. It’s a wake-up call for Canadians that our system of passenger protection is inadequate,” Lukacs told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Tuesday.
WHY ARE WESTJET PILOTS THREATENING TO STRIKE?
On Monday, the union representing WestJet pilots, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), said in a news release that employees in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto are calling for a pay increase and noting the airline’s high turnover rate.
The union says WestJet has been losing 30 pilots per month and on average, and that a pilot will seek different employment every 18 hours.
“It is well known that WestJet currently has a pilot attraction and retention problem. Those of us here today are fighting to change that,” ALPA president Capt. Jason Ambrosi said in a news release. “Our goal is to secure a contract that will help make this airline a career destination for pilots once again.”
Capt. Bernard Lewall, WestJet ALPA master executive council chair, recently told CTV News Channel that WestJet pilots are among the “lowest paid in North America, if not the world.”
For its part, WestJet released a statement on Monday saying the company “acknowledges the importance of our pilots, while at the same time secures WestJet’s financial future and avoids unnecessary disruption for Canadian travellers and communities.”
Additionally, the airline says its 737 pilots are among the “top Canadian income earners across all professions,” and the wages the ALPA is proposing could impact the airline’s ability to provide “affordable” air travel for Canadians.
ARE AIRLINES PILOTS ALLOWED TO GO ON STRIKE WHEN WOULD IT START?
According to the ALPA, WestJet pilots can go on strike as soon as May 16, as the union says the pilots are prepared to file a 72-hour strike notice on May 13 if negotiations continue to be stalled.
While it may be an inconvenience to passengers, Lukacs says the 1,800 pilots under the union are well within their constitutional right to strike if they deem it necessary.
“They have every legal right to strike and personally I do support the pilots in their bid to strike,” he said.
IF MY FLIGHT IS CANCELLED, WILL I GET COMPENSATION?
Tom Oommen, director general of communications at the Canadian Transportation Agency, says travellers have the right to be re-booked for another flight, regardless of carrier, within 48 hours if their flight is cancelled for reasons beyond the airline’s control.
“If a flight disruption is outside airline control, if the airline is not able to rebook a passenger within 48 hours of the original departure time, the airline must offer a refund to the passenger and this refund has to be paid to the passenger within 30 days,” Oommen told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Tuesday.
While this rule was recently introduced to the CTA’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations in September 2022, Lukacs says the APPR rules are not up to par with other airline passenger protection systems such as those in Europe, where travellers are entitled to additional compensation or coverage for expenses like meals and hotel accommodations in the event of a strike.
The CTA describes staffing issues as being considered within an airline’s control, suggesting a passenger might be entitled to some compensation, depending on when a flight is cancelled.
However, it specifically lists “a labour disruption within the carrier or within an essential service provider such as an airport or an air navigation service provider,” as being considered outside its control, suggesting passengers would not be compensated.
And when passengers do qualify, it’s limited to providing assistance, offering alternate travel arrangements or refunds, and up to $1,000 for inconveniences.
“In Canada you don’t get meals, you don’t get accommodation, you don’t get lump sum,” Lukacs said, despite his belief that this strike would be within the airline’s control.
Oommen recommends travellers stay up to date with the latest developments of the strike and keep note of the impacts to their travel as they unfold in case they wish to submit a complaint.
“If ever a passenger wishes to bring a complaint to the agency, that complaint would be based on the specific facts of the case and it’s important to keep good notes,” Oommen said.
WHAT COULD THIS MEAN FOR WESTJET?
Recently, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra proposed legislation that would increase penalties and place the responsibility on airlines to prove why they shouldn’t pay travellers compensation for disruptions beyond their control.
However, both the Air Passenger Rights organization and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) say the proposed amendment will only create more loopholes for airlines and wouldn’t help protect passenger rights.
“They’re creating a major loophole where the airlines can avoid compensation if they just sign in compliance agreements,” Lukacs said.
Both advocacy groups are calling for Canadians to support Bill C-327, which sets out to increase financial compensation for passengers experiencing delays, cancelled flights or denial of boarding not caused by “extraordinary circumstances.”
Lukacs said in the event of cancelled flights followed by a strike, it would come as no surprise if WestJet is hit with a class-action lawsuit if they refuse to compensate travellers.
“They could refuse to pay until they are being ordered to pay or being forced to pay, but will they be able to get away with it? I highly doubt it. It could even be grounds for class action and I would expect that in that case, there’s sufficient grounds to very heavily crack down on WestJet,” he said.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
