Canada Day weekend travel chaos as WestJet cancels flights amid strike
A last-minute strike that forced WestJet to cancel several flights has sparked chaos and confusion among customers travelling during the busy Canada Day long weekend.
The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA)’s decision to proceed with a strike beginning on the evening of Friday, June 28, led WestJet to abruptly cancel over 150 flights scheduled for Saturday and will impact around 20,000 travellers.
“The scale of this deliberate disruption is devastating, and AMFA must be held accountable for their reckless actions,” said Diederik Pen, president of WestJet Airlines and group chief operating officer, in a June 28 release.
“Without immediate intervention, significant disruption will unnecessarily harm tens of thousands of Canadians along with the entire economic ecosystem that depends on our critical air service.”
In a tweet, AMFA claimed that union members have received “unlawful threats” from the company.
“Your letter concludes with the threat directed at your workers that, in retaliation for the exercise of their right to withhold their services, they ‘may be disciplined up to and including termination…'” stated Bret Oestreich, national president of AMFA, in a letter shared on X.
Meanwhile, some travellers left in the lurch expressed frustration with unions.
I am so so sick of being held hostage by unions at every turn. @WestJet
— Tenacious N (@FreePasghetti) June 29, 2024
Later today? People have no idea if they’re flying or not. Do they pack, not pack?
WestJet and the union just finished themselves off with the flying public.
— Sheila 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 🏳️🌈 (@nucksjaysnraps) June 29, 2024
Other customers directed their anger at WestJet over ruined travel plans.
Fuck WestJet pay your fucking workers, this is the 2nd time my flight has been cancelled within 16 hours of takeoff with no help from customer service and no way to make it to my destination on time.
— Nurse (2024 Edition) (@SlashNurse) June 29, 2024
Strand me in LA, @westjet, and see how quickly I never book with you again.
Pay. Your. People.
I don’t care if the offer you already made would make them the highest paid. Clearly you’ve been under paying them for YEARS.
Maybe look at reducing executive compensation instead.
— Scott Dellinger the 4th (@scottdellinger) June 29, 2024
One customer stated that they already had their boarding passes when they discovered their flight was cancelled.
We had boarding passes in hand and were about to drop our bags when we learned the flight was cancelled. How does this happen last minute like this?!? We check flight status last night and this morning and there was no notification until now! We are beyond disappointed.!
— D. Rose (@RoseClass5_6) June 29, 2024
One traveller stranded in Puerto Vallarta said he likely won’t be able to make it back to Saskatchewan to celebrate Canada Day.
Update: Westjet has closed their call services, their app has crashed and they still haven’t shown up at the Puerto Vallharta ticket counter.
They’ve basically ceased communication with customers and passed the frustration onto the customers. Complete disaster, limited…
— Russell host of the Canadian Conservative Podcast (@TheCanadianCon) June 29, 2024
And similar to others’ experience online, customers have been unable to get in touch with customer service.
Hey @WestJet, I’ve been on hold for TWO F*CKIN HOURS. Time to take a two hour nap, wake my family up and head to airport as I haven’t a clue what the heck is going on. Clown show pic.twitter.com/XDMAXkDuV0
— Matt Estrada⛳️🏌🏽 (@MattEstrada1) June 29, 2024
People have been sharing their concern that their loved ones’ travel plans have been left in limbo.
My daughter is currently stranded in Saskatoon, on her way back to the US. WestJet says they don’t need to reimburse because the strike is “out of their control”. 😡
— The Slouchy Dabster (@SlouchyDabster) June 29, 2024
Have you been affected by the WestJet flight cancellations? Share your experience by emailing trending@dailyhive.com.
With files from Kenneth Chan
Follow Channels and Categories