WestJet's strike is over. Its flight board hasn't gotten the memo yet.
A tentative deal ended WestJet's flight attendant strike early Monday, but the airline is still cancelling flights as it works through the backlog.
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WestJet and CUPE Local 8125, the union representing the airline's roughly 4,400 flight attendants, reached a tentative agreement at around 4:15 a.m. Mountain time Monday, following a strike that had grounded the airline's operations across much of Canada since early Sunday. At the peak of the walkout, WestJet cancelled 496 flights — effectively its entire Sunday schedule — over what to be paid for ground duties.
Even with a deal in hand, the airline spent Monday clawing its way back to normal rather than snapping into it. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed more than 300 WestJet flights cancelled Monday, or roughly 62 per cent of everything scheduled. By Tuesday morning, the disruptions had shrunk considerably but hadn't disappeared: 16 flights were cancelled as of about 11 a.m. ET, according to reporting by The Canadian Press.
WestJet chief executive Alexis von Hoensbroech struck a conciliatory tone Monday, saying the airline was "working hard to restore service and get our guests on their way to their destinations as quickly as possible," while also crediting the deal to "the hard work and professionalism of our cabin crew." CUPE Local 8125 president Alia Hussain, for her part, called the tentative agreement "meaningful progress on the issues we brought to the table," pointing specifically to changes in how the airline's flight credit system compensates cabin crew for work performed on the ground — the dispute's central sticking point.
That agreement still needs to clear a ratification vote before it's final, which means the labour peace, while real, isn't yet locked in. In the meantime, WestJet says a full return to normal operations will take time as it repositions aircraft and crews that were scattered by the stoppage — a reminder that grounding an airline is fast, but restarting one is not.
Travellers with upcoming WestJet bookings would do well to check flight status directly before heading to the airport, at least until the airline works through the backlog.
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