WestJet strike showdown: Here's what the experts are predicting

This year’s August long weekend could look very different for thousands of Canadian travellers after WestJet flight attendants voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action on Wednesday (July 15), paving the way for a possible work stoppage.

As previously reported, approximately 4,400 cabin crew represented by CUPE Local 8125 would be in a legal strike position as of Sunday, Aug. 2, potentially grounding operations at Canada's second-largest airline just one day before the statutory holiday observed in many provinces.

WestJet would also be in a legal position to lock out its flight attendants because a federal "cooling off" period will have ended.

The uncertainty leaves both travellers, and travel advisors, in a tricky position.

Either the union or the airline would be required to provide 72 hours' notice before any strike or lockout could begin, meaning Canadians may not know until the end of the month whether their August flights will be affected.

Until then, flexibility will be essential for everyone involved.

READ MORE: WestJet flight attendants vote in favour of strike action

The union and airline have been bargaining over a range of issues, including wages, compensation, scheduling, work-life balance and other workplace concerns.

The discussion comes less than a year after 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, who are also represented by CUPE, walked off the job last August, prompting the airline to suspend flights, which disrupted the travel plans of some 500,000 customers.

Air Canada resumed operations three days later after reaching a mediated agreement with the union, agreeing to pay flight attendants for pre-departure ground duties at 50 per cent of their hourly wage during the hour before takeoff, with that rate rising to 70 per cent by the fourth year of the agreement.

A strike is unlikely, says expert

Will the same situation play out at WestJet?

Speaking with the Calgary Herald yesterday, Rafael Gomez, director of the Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources at the University of Toronto, said a strike by WestJet’s cabin crew is unlikely.

Because there are several reasons why this dispute carries significant weight.

A strike or lockout would effectively shut down WestJet's operations at the height of the lucrative summer travel season, for one.

Adding to the uncertainty, the federal government may be less inclined to intervene with back-to-work legislation or orders, following legal challenges launched by several unions — including CUPE after last summer's Air Canada strike — over the use of those measures.

“The flight attendants just rejected its use, and what fell apart was the fact that the public was on side with the flight attendants, and so the government felt it was on flimsy ground, and then started an investigation of unpaid work against [Air Canada]. Imagine that,” Gomez told the Herald.

“With the strike option now becoming more a credible threat, and the timing of the strike at the height of tourist season, it just it would make no sense for WestJet not to find a compromise in a deal before that strike actually happens.”

In an update posted Tuesday, it was revealed that CUPE's National President Mark Hancock has written to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu, urging the federal government to respect the collective bargaining process between WestJet and its flight attendants. 

"Last summer’s federal intervention into a labour dispute at Air Canada undermined collective bargaining and further signalled federal willingness to intervene on behalf of employers. CUPE is urging the Carney government not to repeat that mistake again with WestJet.," reads a statement CUPE posted to its website. 

35 unpaid hours each month

One of the main sticking points in the negotiations are claims of unpaid work.

WestJet flight attendants are currently paid under a credit-hour system, a compensation model widely used by North American airlines.

The framework includes minimum monthly pay guarantees, overtime provisions and other contractual protections.

However, CUPE argues the model no longer reflects the realities of the job.

The union says flight attendants receive a single rate of pay covering both time in the air and work performed on the ground, rather than being compensated separately for all hours spent on duty.

It claims WestJet’s flight attendants are working an average of 35 unpaid hours each month.

There are also concerns over pay disparities.

According to WestJet, cabin crew currently earn between $28.45 and $53.61 per credit hour, while widebody cabin managers are paid between $37.54 and $69.69 per credit hour.

But the union has also published calculations online that it says show several flight attendant schedules from May and June resulting in pay below the federal minimum wage of $18.15 an hour.

“They're compensated for everything"

In an interview with CTV News last Friday (July 10), the WestJet Group’s CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said cabin crew are compensated “for every single hour they work,” and that “anything else would be illegal, naturally.”

He explained how WestJet’s flight attendants have been compensated under a block-hour pay system for roughly 25 years, after employees requested a model similar to the one used by pilots.

Under the agreement, the hourly rate was increased and minimum pay guarantees were introduced to ensure flight attendants are compensated even during periods with little flying, he told the outlet.

The CEO rejected the claims that flight attendants are paid only for the time an aircraft is moving, saying that characterization "is absolutely not true.”

“They're compensated for everything,” he told CTV. “Even if they don't fly a single hour in a month, they still get a full salary. So, there's a little bit of misleading the public here.”

In a detailer posted to WestJet’s website, the airline breaks down its credit hour system for flight attendants, which it calls “the standard pay model for cabin crew across North America.”

However, in the union’s view, there is a growing disconnect between the duties flight attendants perform and how they are paid.

CUPE says WestJet’s flight attendants are responsible for passenger safety from the moment they report for duty, but much of that time is not compensated under the current system.

“Flight attendants are performing increasingly demanding work in a safety-sensitive environment, and we are some of the lowest paid in Canada”, said Alia Hussain, president of CUPE 8125, in a press release last April. “The system that governs our compensation was built for a different time, and it no longer reflects the value of work being done today.”

In a statement to the Herald on Tuesday, von Hoensbroech said he is open to changing the formula used to calculate pay in an effort to make compensation more equitable for employees.

“We absolutely are ready to change the structure of how flight attendants are being compensated because we hear them, and they want the change, and we are ready to entertain this change because we want them to feel comfortable with the way they’re being compensated,” he said.

“WestJet has to give ground pay”

Others have sounded off on the issue, sharing predictions as to how they this may play out.  

Speaking to the Toronto Star, Steven Tufts, an associate professor of labour at York University, said pay for ground duties is a key sticking point in negotiations and could prompt a strike if WestJet does not meet the union's demand.

“WestJet has to give ground pay,” Tufts told the outlet. “It’s a generational change in the way flight attendants are compensated.”

But will the federal government intervene?

Tufts said federal intervention would not come as a surprise, given Prime Minister Mark Carney's goal of creating an "unimpeded trading economy" in Canada. 

John Gradek, a lecturer in aviation management at McGill University, also told the Toronto Star that WestJet’s response to the union’s central demand remains difficult to gauge, particularly given the airline’s long-standing focus on keeping costs low.

 “Air Canada set the precedent, and WestJet, as much as they won’t like it, they have no choice but to get on the bandwagon,” he told the outlet.

“WestJet should do the right thing”

WestJet's mainline flight attendants have been without a collective agreement since their previous contract expired at the end of 2025.

Flight attendants at WestJet Encore will also be negotiating a new deal, with their collective agreement expiring this month. 

In a press release issued yesterday, CUPE 8125 emphasized that, from the beginning, its goal has been to achieve a negotiated agreement and minimize any impact on travellers.

Due to "stalled negotiations" with WestJet, yesterday’s strike vote "became necessary to move the process forward at the bargaining table," the union said.

In a statement, CUPE’s Alia Hussain called on WestJet to return to bargaining with a new focus.

“The members of CUPE 8125 are united and determined," Hussain said. "They voted to strike because they stand behind the bargaining priorities that they have identified, especially pay for all hours of work performed.”

“WestJet should do the right thing and prevent travel disruptions for their passengers.”

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