Thousands of passengers had their travel plans disrupted and some left stranded after Canada’s second-largest airline cancelled hundreds of flights this weekend.
WestJet cancelled 832 flights between last Thursday and Tuesday, the nationwide Canada Day holiday weekend.
The strike resulted in 130 aircraft being grounded at 13 airports in Canada and some passengers having to sleep in the terminals all night.
“It’s a disaster,” said Louisa Garcia CTV News, She explained how she and her husband slept at Vancouver International Airport after a 14-hour flight from Manila.
The couple was scheduled to take another flight to their home in Edmonton at around 8 p.m. on Saturday.
“When we checked in for the connecting flight … we found out it had been cancelled and they hadn’t sent us an email,” she said, adding that although she had booked another flight for the morning, it had also been cancelled.
The flight bans were the result of a strike by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association. The strike ended on Sunday after talks between the union and the airline resumed.
It wasn’t just passengers in Canada who were affected by disruptions. La Carmina, a travel vlogger from Vancouver, said Vancouver is great that she was stuck in Los Cabos, Mexico.
“I got an email after midnight (on Friday) saying it was disrupted and there was no way to rebook, very unhelpful,” the vlogger told the outlet.
At Winnipeg International Airport, other passengers who had a stopover there on Saturday said they were afraid of having to spend the night there.
WestJet announced late Sunday that strike action had ended and “AMFA members would return to work as planned to begin the immediate restoration of the network” after a tentative agreement was reached.
The Airplane Mechanics Fraternal Association urged its members to return to work immediately pending a vote on the tentative agreement.
Around 680 workers, whose daily inspections and repairs are essential to the airline’s operations, went on strike on Friday evening despite the Canadian labour minister’s order for binding arbitration.
WestJet said late Sunday that it would continue to experience flight disruptions over the next week as it resumes operations of its aircraft.
On Monday, WestJet issued a statement saying that the airline had begun ramping up operations as of midnight this morning, but that it would take some time to fully resume operations and that further cancellations would be necessary in the coming days.
“We are grateful to be able to resume operations. However, we are fully aware of the ongoing impact on our guests and sincerely appreciate their patience and understanding,” said Diederik Pen, President of WestJet Airlines and Group Chief Operating Officer.
“Our teams are working around the clock to get the 130 aircraft parked across Canada safely back in the air as efficiently as possible.”
