Sunwing to close bases at Quebec, Ottawa & Halifax airports: report

This story was updated on Thursday, November 7 at 5:12 p.m. EST

Sunwing will close its crew bases in Quebec, Ottawa and Halifax airports by April 2025, according to a report in Radio-Canada.

According to an internal notice sent by WestJet director Shane Carson on Monday (Nov. 4), the combined summer demand from WestJet and Sunwing is not high enough to support permanent, year-round bases. (The WestJet Group completed its acquisition of Sunwing last year).

The memo goes on to say that WestJet is reviewing and considering future seasonal opportunities once the integration of Sunwing Airlines into WestJet’s mainline is complete. This process is expected to be completed in April 2025.

The move will result in employees having to start their shifts at other airports. Roughly sixty flight attendants and around forty Sunwing pilots work out of the Jean-Lesage International Airport in Quebec, Radio-Canada outlines.

Sunwing is the only carrier that has a base there. The base opened in 2007.

In its email to employees, WestJet said its Quebec-based pilots will be based in Montreal. As for cabin crew, the allocation process must be discussed with the union, the company says.

WestJet spokesperson Madison Kruger told Radio-Canada by email that the changes will not have repercussions on employment in Quebec or on French service levels.

Changes to crew schedules, including where shifts begin, will be made however, Kruger told the outlet.

The union that represents the employees is disappointed and angry with the decision, the report says.

“The employees are really angry about the situation, after 18 years of working in Quebec in their city, offering service to passengers from Quebec in French,” vice-president of the Sunwing-WestJet merger committee of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Jonathan Tougas-Ouellet.

Base planning does not impact flying schedules

In a follow-up statement, Kruger told PAX that Quebec and Eastern Canada "remain an integral strategic pillar for the WestJet Group, inclusive of Sunwing Airlines, Sunwing Vacations and WestJet Airlines." 

"While integration planning is always complex, we are working directly with the appropriate employee and labour groups on various integration related activities and, when integration decisions are finalized, they will be communicated first and foremost to employees across the WestJet Group," Kruger said. 

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