On Sunday, more than three-quarters of WestJet airline flights were canceled, while a surprise strike by its mechanics entered its third day, in the heart of the busiest weekend of the season.
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In all, airline tracking tool FlightAware estimates that Canada’s second-largest carrier has canceled nearly 700 flights since Thursday, affecting tens of thousands of travelers across the country and internationally.
The approximately 680 mechanics, whose daily inspections and repairs are essential to airline operations, went on strike Friday night after failing to reach an agreement on pay and working conditions.
“Every flight cancellation we are forced to make represents hundreds of customers, who are affected by the reckless and continued actions of this union,” WestJet President Diederik Pen said Saturday evening.
The company estimates that it will be forced to reduce its operational fleet to 30 aircraft by Sunday evening, compared to nearly 200 in normal times.
Negotiations between the two parties continued late Saturday evening with the help of an arbitrator, without success. They must resume on Sunday.
On Thursday, the threat of class action appeared to have been averted following the intervention of the federal government, which ordered binding arbitration to resolve the contractual dispute.
But arguing that the decision did not prohibit the strike action, the mechanics’ union decided to go ahead on Friday evening, stressing that “the airline’s refusal to negotiate made the strike inevitable.”
A strike notice was issued earlier this month after mechanics rejected a tentative agreement.
