Travel chaos as major airline cancels more than 800 flights after shock union strike

Canada's second-major hose has near tens of thousands of passengers stranded and scrambling for answers aft it canceled hundreds of flights complete nan vacation weekend.

Calgary-based WestJet announced Saturday greeting that it would cancel much than 400 flights done Sunday - affecting astir 50,000 customers - arsenic it struggles to scope an statement pinch nan Aircraft Mechanical Fraternal Association, which voted to onslaught Friday nighttime and prompted hundreds of labor to locomotion disconnected nan job.

The hose canceled an further 410 flights overnight, for a full of much than 800 canceled flights by Sunday. 

WestJet will now proceed to cancel flights to trim its operating fleet from astir 200 aircrafts to conscionable astir 30 done nan weekend, arsenic thousands of travelers effort to get distant earlier Canada Day connected July 1.

Passengers astatine Toronto's Pearson International Airport described really they arrived astatine Terminal 3 to get answers and get rescheduled onto different formation - only to beryllium met pinch soundlessness from hose officials.

Villamor Torres and Mary Jane Herrera said they went to nan airdrome aft struggling to rebook their formation to nan Cayman Islands complete nan phone.

They recounted really they were each group to recreation connected Saturday erstwhile they received an email astatine astir 9.40am notifying them that nan formation was canceled.

'We're trying to fig retired what to do,' Herrera told The Globe and Mail. 

'We're successful nan mediate of getting a caller flight, but they said if we get a caller formation they won't compensate us.'

Amy Morris, visiting Canada for nan first clip from Atlanta, Georgia, besides described nan business arsenic 'chaos.'

'We had a hiking travel planned tomorrow successful Banff, we mislaid nan full first time astatine least,' she said. 'It's not a awesome preamble to Canada.'

She said her family of 4 was headed to Calgary erstwhile they learned of their formation cancelation connected a connecting formation to Toronto.

'We're getting nary accusation from WestJet astatine each - they said wrong a mates of hours we'll get a reassignment, but we've heard nothing.

'It was [our] past family vacation,' Morris added. 'The kids are moving retired of authorities and it was expected to beryllium our past hurrah.'  

Others person taken to X to definitive their frustrations pinch nan airline, including Liam Stein - who claimed that his 'wedding successful Mexico is ruined owed to your incompetence to mitigate this strike.

'Tens of thousands of dollars gone because you cannot swallow your pridefulness and prevention nan biggest recreation week of nan year,' he posted connected Saturday. 

'WestJet will ne'er retrieve from this incompetence.'

Matt Estrada besides said he was forced to walk $451 connected a edifice room because his formation was canceled - and claimed WestJet would not screen nan costs of nan accommodation because nan strikes are 'unplanned.' 

'Kind of for illustration an enactment of God, they say,' he wrote, adding that location are 'zero rental cars disposable arsenic well.'

Meanwhile, Samin Sahan and Samee Jan said they were readying to time off Saturday pinch extended family connected a travel to Calgary erstwhile they received an email that their formation had been rescheduled for Monday.

They said they decided to spell to nan airdrome anyway, seeking explanation and hoping they could get connected an earlier flight, but person not gotten immoderate answers.

'This inaction is hurting a batch of people, their ain institution arsenic good arsenic their customers who will apt nary longer beryllium their customers ever again,' Sahan said. 

One of nan striking mechanics extracurricular of Toronto's Pearson Airport said it regrets immoderate inconvenience to passengers.

'However, nan logic they [the passengers] person perchance missed a formation aliases had to cancel is owed to nan logic that WestJet is not respectfully sitting down astatine nan array and negotiating,' Sean McVeigh said.

'We return a batch of work and we would conscionable for illustration to beryllium appreciated financially.'

The Aircraft Mechanical Fraternal Association has claimed that WestJet's 'unwillingness' to discuss made nan onslaught inevitable and accused nan hose of insinuating retaliatory action against national members. 

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech, meanwhile, blamed nan business connected a 'rogue national from nan US' that is trying to make inroads successful Canada.

He claimed that nan national rejected an connection that would person made nan hose mechanics nan 'best paid successful nan country.'

Von Hoensbroech besides said that arsenic acold arsenic nan hose was concerned, bargaining pinch nan national came to an extremity erstwhile Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan asked nan Canada Industrial Relations Board to resoluteness nan statement conflict done binding arbitration - a process successful which a third-party deliberates connected nan terms.

The committee ordered nan statement to beryllium finalized done arbitration connected Friday, but noted that O'Regan's referral 'does not person nan effect of suspending nan correct to onslaught aliases lockout.'

'This makes a onslaught wholly absurd, because nan logic you really do a onslaught is because you request to workout unit connected nan bargaining table,' Von Hoensbroech said.

'If location is nary bargaining table, it makes nary consciousness - location shouldn't beryllium a strike.'

WestJet President Diedrik Pen besides said nan hose was 'extremely outraged' astatine nan national and would clasp it '100 percent accountable for nan unnecessary accent and costs incurred arsenic a result,' according to The Globe and Mail.

 On Saturday, Minister O'Regan said he met pinch representatives from some WestJet and nan union, and told them they needed to activity together 'to resoluteness their differences and get their first statement done.'

The 2 parties were group to reconvene pinch a mediator connected Sunday, Bret Ostreich, nan president of nan Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association told Reuters.

'All we want to do is spell backmost to nan table,' he said, vowing that 'the onslaught will beryllium successful effect until we get an agreement.'

In nan meantime, Gabor Lokacs, a Canadian aerial rider authorities advocate, says WestJet has a ineligible responsibility to supply passengers pinch canceled flights a reasonable and speedy alternative.

'Under nan Air Passenger Protection Regulations, they request to reschedule you connected different hose aliases bargain a summons from a competitor,' he told The Globe and Mail, adding that nan hose should do truthful wrong nan first fewer hours aft a formation is canceled.

'If WestJet is not reachable for respective hours, they are not fulfilling their obligation,' he said.

Lokacs now recommends that passengers who cannot scope nan hose aliases are not offered an replacement recreation scheme book a formation astatine their ain disbursal - and nonstop WestJet nan bill.

Most importantly, though, he said, 'they should archive each connection and speech pinch nan airline.'