The Calgary-based carrier has already begun to cancel flights, calling off roughly 25 trips on Thursday and Friday in anticipation of possible job action by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association , which has threatened to hit the picket lines as early as 5:30 p.m. MDT on Friday.
As negotiations toward the union's first collective agreement drag on in a windowless conference room at a hotel near Toronto's Pearson airport, the tone of statements put out by the two sides has grown increasingly aggressive. "In its own submission of today, WestJet alleges that an AME strike would place the 'company and the travelling public in peril at a critical time,'" the union negotiating committee said in a release Wednesday.WestJet deemed the impact of a potential strike"catastrophic."
He called the decision to trigger flight cancellations a"painful" one, noting the fallout for customers.