With a legal strike window opening as early as August 2, WestJet is giving passengers a way out \u2014 and the summer travel season hangs in the balance.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Calgary-based airline has announced that passengers holding bookings between July 30 and August 4<\/strong> may make a one-time, fee-free change or cancellation to their itinerary. The move comes as WestJet’s roughly 4,400 cabin crew members<\/strong>, represented by CUPE Local 8125<\/strong>, voted 99.4 per cent in favour of strike action last week \u2014 a mandate that legally allows them to walk off the job starting August 2.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n WestJet framed the flexibility offer as a gesture of goodwill. “Our team remains actively engaged in negotiations and is fully prepared to make meaningful improvements that work for cabin crew while balancing the future sustainability of WestJet,” the airline said in a statement on its website. In an email to WestJet Rewards members, the company added that it believes “an agreement can be reached while avoiding guest disruption,” while acknowledging that travel uncertainty “can be concerning.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The timing could hardly be more disruptive. A full work stoppage at WestJet would fall squarely in the heart of the Canadian summer travel season. John Gradek<\/strong>, an aviation expert at McGill University, estimates that a strike could strand between 70,000 and 75,000 passengers per day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The prospect draws an uncomfortable parallel with last summer, when Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job, grounding approximately 700 daily flights and affecting more than half a million passengers before a resolution was reached.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Both sides say they want to avoid that outcome. Whether negotiators can bridge the gap on wages and unpaid work before the August 2 deadline will determine whether that intention holds.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a legal strike window opening as early as August 2, WestJet is giving passengers a way out \u2014 and the summer travel season hangs in the balance. What Travellers Need to Know The Calgary-based airline has announced that passengers holding bookings between July 30 and August 4 may make a one-time, fee-free change or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBroader Stakes for Canadian Travellers<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n