Sunwing closes its base at Quebec airport

The air carrier WestJetowner of Sunwingwill close its bases at the Quebec, Ottawa and Halifax airports by April 2025. Employees will have to start their shifts at other airports.

The combined summer demand from WestJet and Sunwing is not sufficient to support a permanent, year-round crew base. WestJet will review and consider future seasonal opportunities from Quebec following integrationcan we read in an email from one of the directors of WestJetShane Carson, sent to employees on Monday.

This business decision comes following the purchase of Sunwing by the Alberta carrier WestJet in 2022. Around sixty flight attendants and around forty pilots Sunwing work from the Jean-Lesage international airport in Quebec. Sunwing is the only carrier to have a base there, it was open since 2007. Employees could thus start their shift in Quebec.

In his email to employees, WestJet indicates that the Quebec pilots will be based in Montreal. For cabin crew, the allocation process must be discussed with the union, it is written.

The spokesperson for WestJetMadison Kruger, indicates by email that This change will not impact employment in the province or the level of service in French, but there will be changes to how schedules for crews will be created and where their shifts will begin. of work.

The union disappointed and angry

The union says it received WestJet’s decision with a lot of disappointment and anger.

The employees are really angry about the situation, after 18 years of working in Quebec in their city, providing service to Quebec passengers in Frenchlaunches the vice-president of the merger committee Sunwing-WestJet of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Jonathan Tougas-Ouellet.

This change could generate costs and time for employees who will have to travel at their own expense to their departure airport, deplores the union. WestJet will have to reveal its plan to us to avoid uprooting all these peopleadds Mr. Tougas-Ouellet.

This is what made Quebec so charming. We had local flight attendants, who held on to their base, there is a large core of flight attendants in Quebec, who have been there since 2007. […] This will distort this relationship with the passengers a little if the flights to Quebec are with flight attendants from another base.

On the other end of the line, the spokesperson for Quebec City Jean-Lesage International Airport is reassuring. With the information that the airport has at the moment, this decision will have no repercussions for passengersindicates Étienne Cummings.