WestJet strike: Saskatoon workers picket, passengers deal with flight cancellations in Regina

While the airport is not a base location for WestJet, the CUPE statement said a number of flight attendants live in and around the city prompting the picket.

Peterson said in the statement that members had been without a collective agreement for over 200 days.

“Their bargaining team has been fighting hard for a long time, but WestJet doesn’t seem to get it. Every worker should be paid for every second they are at work, and unfortunately that is just not the case for WestJet’s cabin crew.”

The airport said in a statement that WestJet Encore flights were continuing to operate as normal on Sunday and travellers should check the airline’s website for the most up-to-date flight information.

Regina travellers also dealing with delays

In Regina, where flights to Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver were cancelled on Sunday, Jarod Eagles was trying to get home to Phoenix after spending five days with family in Saskatchewan.

His WestJet Encore flight from Regina to Calgary could still operate, but his Calgary-to-Phoenix connection was cancelled.

“What’s the point of getting to Calgary if I have no other option?” Eagles said. “Do I just live in an airport for two, three days?”

Eagles spent about 45 minutes waiting in line at Regina International Airport while trying to find another way home. He considered flying to Minneapolis, where he would have more airlines to choose from, but did not know whether he could get onto the flight before it left.

“I’m trying to get to a place where I can see my kids again,” he said. “I’ve been gone five days already.”

Eagles said accepting a refund would not solve the problem. He booked his original ticket well in advance, while a last-minute replacement could cost significantly more.

“If I want to get out today, any other airline, if I can even get somewhere, you’re into the thousands,” Eagles said.

He also stressed that the employees working at the airport were not responsible for the disruption.

“They’re trying their best. It’s not their fault,” Eagles said. “You just try to be polite, cross your fingers and hope for the best.”

Not everyone at the airport was facing a cancellation.

Mary Magnuson, who is originally from Moose Jaw and now lives in the United States, was heading to Minneapolis. Her flight was still scheduled, but she said the news of WestJet’s widespread cancellations initially made her nervous.

“I was more nervous yesterday when they said they were cancelling all flights,” Magnuson said.

By the time she arrived at the airport, she was less concerned about getting home.

“I’m not too worried. We’ll get there,” Magnuson said. “We can always rent a car and drive.”

Charlie Stierheim was also heading to Minneapolis before continuing home to Pittsburgh after visiting family. His flight remained scheduled, although he noticed a longer check-in line and several cancellations at the airport.

“Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen,” Stierheim said. “It’s the life of travel these days.”

Stierheim had received his boarding passes and was preparing to go through security.

“We’ll get there eventually,” he said.

Regina International Airport president and CEO James Bogusz said the strike has removed hundreds of seats from the city’s air-service market.

All WestJet flights using larger Boeing 737 aircraft were cancelled, including flights to Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax.

“This is well over about 600 to 700 seats out of our market just today alone that are not operating right now,” Bogusz said. “So, definitely a significant situation here at the airport.”

Despite those cancellations, Bogusz said the terminal remained relatively quiet. A small number of passengers were waiting at WestJet’s counter to find another way to their destinations.

The airport added extra security staff to answer questions and direct affected passengers to the WestJet counter.

Bogusz said WestJet accounts for about 60 per cent of Regina’s total seat capacity, making the current disruption larger than the Air Canada flight attendant strike in 2025.

“This one is a bit bigger in terms of seats, but both were very impactful for the airport,” he said.

There is no timeline for WestJet’s mainline service to resume. Bogusz cautioned that even after the two sides reach an agreement, restarting the airline’s network will take time.

“It’s not like the planes start flying that next minute,” he said. “It does take some time for them to wind back up.”

WestJet Encore continues to operate, along with Air Canada and United Airlines. However, Bogusz said passengers should check their entire itinerary before heading to the airport because an operating Encore flight could connect with a cancelled mainline flight.

“Just because your first flight starts on Encore does not mean your whole journey would be on Encore,” Bogusz said.

WestJet deal rejected by union

Hours after the strike took effect, WestJet released the details of its latest proposal.

The deal offers what the company describes as significant across-the-board wage increases, starting with a 13 per cent boost in October 2026 and retroactive pay to Jan. 1.

That’s alongside a new duty pay premium worth an additional 12 per cent salary equivalent.

Also in the deal, an immediate 13 per cent per diem hike, annual $300 health care spending accounts, expanded vacation, and a 17-week postpartum maternity leave top-up.

Scheduling and quality-of-life enhancements, including reduced maximum duty days, extra rest hours at home and away, and extra pay for reassignments or layover hotel delays, were also part of the package.

WestJet had begun grounding planes and cancelling flights in the lead-up to a potential strike to avoid stranding passengers and crew.

They issued a 72-hour lockout notice Thursday, the same day the union gave notice it would strike

Along with wage rates generally, compensation for work done on the ground has marked a key stumbling block in the talks, less than a year after the same issue sparked a work stoppage by 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada.

In Calgary, bargaining teams continued with near-round-the-clock negotiations at a hotel conference room to hammer out a new contract.

A question mark dangling over the talks is how Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government might intervene.

Soon after Air Canada flight attendants went on strike over what they deemed unpaid work last August, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu directed the country’s labour board to order them back on the job.

The union defied the order, forcing Air Canada back to the bargaining table where the parties hashed out a tentative deal. The union’s move marked an extralegal precedent that served as a warning to airline executives across the country in future negotiations.

WestJet’s check-in assistance line was empty at Toronto Pearson airport on Sunday morning.

Carissa Fontaine and Karissa Sehn slept at the Toronto airport overnight after learning it will be at least a couple more days before they can get back to Saskatoon.

The pair recently returned from Amsterdam and said they slept on the cold airport floors.

“People were not helpful at all, unfortunately,” Sehn said at the WestJet check-in area.

The two aren’t sure where to stay or how to pass their time in the city. “I don’t know … is there a Jays game?” Fontaine laughed.

Lindsay Williams said he was trying to stay optimistic about his vacation to Canada and Mexico after the sudden death of his close friend.

Now he’s crushed to be losing days of his “once-in-lifetime” trip to Cancun that he had to rebook with another airline at a later date due to the strike.

Williams, who is from the United Kingdom, had been up since 4:30 a.m. on Sunday trying to secure a spot in the WestJet online customer service queue, which quickly climbed to a seven-hour wait.

Contract talks had been ongoing in the carrier’s home city of Calgary in an effort to bridge the gaps between WestJet and CUPE WestJet Component. Since the last contract expired on Dec. 31, 2025, wages and compensation for work being done on the ground have been among the biggest stumbling blocks.

WestJet said affected passengers will be refunded or reaccommodated as applicable.

“We’re disappointed to be here; this directly impacts the travel plans of our guests, our WestJetters and the communities and businesses we serve,” said CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.

“Our focus remains on staying available for the union to reach an agreement. We presented a proposal that would have set a new standard for cabin crew in Canada, making WestJet the only airline to offer an hourly rate covering all time before and after flights, plus a double-digit wage increase in year one among other priorities the union raised. Unfortunately, it wasn’t accepted.”

In a media release from the union, Alia Hussain said WestJet’s latest offer didn’t go far enough.

“We are on strike because we believe we deserve better,” said the president of the union’s 8125 local.

“We are ready to go back to the table to settle. We hope the federal government will not interfere and will let the bargaining process run its course. Unpaid work is a big piece of our priorities, but we are bargaining a comprehensive contract.

“We would not be here if (the airline) had taken our concerns seriously for almost 11 months of bargaining.”

Government not stepping in yet

Reaction to the news of a strike came swiftly from Hajdu, who said in a statement on social media that she was disappointed that no deal could be reached to avoid a disruption.

She reiterated previous comments that the strongest deals happen at the table, but did not say whether the government planned to intervene.

Even a brief shutdown will cost WestJet millions of dollars during the height of summer travel — on a long weekend across much of Canada. The airline operates more than 600 flights per day carrying thousands of passengers — sometimes more than 70,000, according to the company.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees had ratcheted up a public relations campaign in recent weeks, launching a “day of action” with rallies across the country on July 14.

Ads arguing the cabin crews’ case popped up on platforms ranging from podcasts to TikTok content creator videos.

WestJet’s current “credit hour” compensation system combines flight time, ground duties, delays and other labour into a “single, higher rate of pay” that is then credited across the work day, the company says on its website.

The pay rate ranges between $28.88 and $53.61 per credit hour. At 80 credit hours a month — considered full-time work — that adds up to between $27,700 and $51,500 per year.

While many airlines maintain this type of compensation structure, Delta Air Lines spearheaded reforms in 2022 when it became the first carrier in North America to pay flight attendants specifically for work done on the ground.

American Airlines and Alaska Airlines followed suit with boarding pay of 50 per cent of regular rates.

In February, Air Canada flight attendants secured compensation for ground work that will climb to 70 per cent of their hourly rate for the hour before takeoff — also known as boarding pay.

Ottawa launched an investigation into unpaid work in the airline sector in August 2025, when negotiations between Air Canada and the union representing its cabin crew boiled over into a strike that saw planes grounded as workers took to the picket lines.

Central to that work stoppage were allegations from CUPE that flight attendants are regularly subjected to unpaid work when aircraft are grounded.

In response, the jobs minister asked her department to look into whether workers in the sector were being paid below a standard set by the federal minimum wage.

Findings from the first phase of that probe, published in February, found little evidence that unpaid work was widespread in the industry, although investigators flagged some issues with part-time and entry-level flight attendants for a closer look.

In May, Canada’s main flight attendants union cried foul on airline submissions to the government, as questions persist around what constitutes aviation “work.”

In a letter, the head of CUPE’s airline division said the information on wages that airlines provided to authorities this month relies on a narrow and “misleading” definition of work to prove that cabin crew are paid fairly.

— with files from 980 CJME’s Jacob Bamhour and The Canadian Press

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by CJME News

WestJet strike: Saskatoon workers picket, passengers deal with flight cancellations in Regina

Regina travellers also dealing with delays

WestJet deal rejected by union

Government not stepping in yet

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