‘The number is evolving’: Over 20 WestJet flights cancelled at Winnipeg airport due to strike
More and more WestJet flights are getting cancelled due to an ongoing labour dispute between the airline and its mechanics.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 20 WestJet flights travelling into and out of Winnipeg Richardson International Airport were called off.
“The number is evolving,” said Tyler MacAfee, a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA) Saturday.
The WAA said it won’t be commenting on the issue itself, but encourages those travelling with WestJet to check with the airline for the latest information.
According to WestJet, more than 800 flights have been cancelled since the Aircraft Mechanic Fraternal Association (AMFA) went on strike Friday.
The strike came as a surprise after the federal labour minister Seamus O’Regan ordered both parties to submit to binding arbitration on Thursday, in an effort to find a settlement and avoid travel chaos during the Canada Day long weekend.
In an update Saturday morning, CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech and president Diederik Pen expressed their frustration with the situation.
“The (labour) minister has called CIRB (Canadian Industrial Relations Board) to mandate binding arbitration,” said von Hoensbroech. “So with this, the bargaining process has actually ended, because an arbitrator is going to decide on a contract, and not the bargaining table.
“This makes a strike totally absurd.”
On Friday, AMFA announced the strike is due to the airline’s “unwillingness to negotiate with the union.”
Von Hoensbroech said the airline is waiting to hear from the labour minister on next steps. Meantime, those whose travel plans were disrupted by the strike are being compensated with an overnight hotel stay.
It’s not the first time a labour dispute has thrown a wrench into WestJet holiday travel plans. In 2023, the airline narrowly averted a strike in the early hours of the May long weekend, but still cancelled more than 200 flights in the process.
‘It’s really frustrating’
Travellers at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport aired their grievances Saturday, as many waited to hear whether their flight was cancelled.
Zach Perry, a videographer from North Carolina, was supposed to fly to Edmonton with DJ duo Sunday Scaries for their next performance. However, the group is now stuck in Winnipeg because of the strike.
“It seems like the strike is working,” Perry said. “The customers are pissed off.”
Perry said they now have to talk to WestJet to try and reschedule their flight, or pay thousands of dollars to fly out with another airline.
“It’s really frustrating,” he said. “At the end of the day though…it could be a lot worse.”
The labour action is disrupting other passengers’ Canada Day plans.
Jeanette Krahn and her partner were on their way to Ottawa to visit Krahn’s sister, and celebrate the holiday in the nation’s capital.
Krahn said she kept checking on their flight to see if it was cancelled, but never received the confirmation.
“We thought maybe we got lucky,” she said, so they made their way to the airport. “We checked in, made it through security, got to our gate and that’s when we found out it was cancelled, too.”
Krahn said she’s disappointed and probably won’t try to rebook her flight.
“From what I’ve been hearing, the call centre is being overrun with so many flights cancelled,” she said. “You’re kind of stuck.”
When it comes to other airlines, Krahn said the prices they're offering are just too high.
“I don’t want to pay double,” she said.
With files from The Canadian Press, CTV’s Stephen Hunt and Daniel Halmarson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING At least 60 are dead and scores are injured after a stampede at a religious event in northern India
At least 60 people were dead and scores were injured after a stampede at a religious gathering of thousands of people in northern India, officials said Tuesday.
Did WestJet cancel your flight? Here's what experts say you should do
WestJet cancelled more than 800 flights between June 27 and July 2, affecting tens of thousands of passengers. Here are the kinds of compensation experts say passengers affected by the cancellations may be entitled to, and how to go about advocating for it.
What a family lawyer says you should know before getting married
Barry Nussbaum, a Toronto-based family lawyer who has counselled countless couples, offers advice about the details you don't want to overlook before getting married.
Hurricane Beryl rips through open waters after devastating the southeast Caribbean
Hurricane Beryl roared through open waters on Tuesday as a monstrous Category 5 storm on a path that would take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after earlier making landfall in the southeast Caribbean, killing at least two people.
This 12-year-old memorized the periodic table at age two. He's heading to NYU after finishing high school in just two years
Recent high school graduate Suborno Isaac Bari, 12, plans to start studying math and physics at New York University in the fall, but he’s already got his ambitious sights set on beginning a doctoral program.
Scientists wary of bird flu pandemic 'unfolding in slow motion'
Scientists tracking the spread of bird flu are increasingly concerned that gaps in surveillance may keep them several steps behind a new pandemic, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen leading disease experts.
Five years after historic tobacco ruling, 'nothing has changed'
Five years after a historic ruling against three major tobacco companies, no one has seen even a fraction of the money they're entitled to – and recent court filings suggest hundreds have died in the interim.
'I would call this the silent eating disorder': What experts want you to know about ARFID
Unlike eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia nervosa, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID, isn’t concerned with body shape or size. People with ARFID are very limited in the foods they feel safe and comfortable eating
Biden and the Democrats raise US$264 million in 2nd quarter as they seek to calm post-debate anxieties
President Joe Biden 's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee reported raising US$264 million in the year's second quarter, an impressive haul that may help them calm fears within their own party about last week's shaky debate performance.