Sask. WestJet passengers scramble to get home as possible strike looms

Several WestJet passengers in Regina are glad to be catching a WestJet flight before the looming strike deadline which is currently set for Friday morning.

“I am flying back to my province, B.C., so I don’t have to worry about it but I have been worried about getting on a flight and watching who’s issued a 72-hour strike notice,” WestJet passenger Carol Holeksa said.

“I’m planning on coming back out in a few weeks so hopefully that’s not the case because I enjoy flying with them,” another passenger Edward Charles said.

Current issues for WestJet employees include job protection, scheduling and pay.

“If we can not reach a resolution by 3:00 AM, the aircraft that are in the air will land at their destination and then that will be it. Those planes will not fly anymore,” captain Bernard Lewall said.

The airline has responded with a lockout notice saying, “the decision was not one that was made lightly and that it sincerely regrets the inconvenience to passengers. It believes it made a good contract offer to pilots.”

“It would make us by far the best-paying airline in Canada but the union seems to be of the opinion that this is not enough and that’s the problem because there are limits to what we can afford,” WestJet CEO Alexis Von Hoensbroech said.

A strike would hit Saskatchewan airports hard. WestJet offers the largest number of flights.

“Somewhere between eight and twelve flights a day right now so a disruption in that sense would be really too bad for the community and travellers,” Justin Reeves from the Regina Airport Authority said.

If a strike or lockout occurs, passengers are entitled to a rebooked flight or a refund.

“You as a passenger that’s booked on a WestJet flight Friday or Saturday or Sunday you can expect a text message, an email message from WestJet,” aviation expert John Gradek said.

The Saskatchewan government is concerned that a strike or lockout would cripple the visitor economy and make travel more expensive. It has sent a letter to the federal government calling on Ottawa to bring the two sides back to the bargaining table.

“You know we don’t want to see a disruption that’s going to have an economic impact whether that be for businesses, whether that be in the tourism sector,” minister of trade and export development Jeremy Harrison said.

Saskatchewan believes the federal government needs to look at the situation from a long-term perspective, possibly declaring airlines an essential service.