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After a day-long strike, WestJet flight attendants are back at work.
On The Evan Bray Show, labour and employment lawyer Steven Seiferling said part of the reason behind the strike was that workers wanted “parity with what Air Canada had done” just a year earlier. That included bargaining to get more pay for time spent on the ground.
Read more:
- Some WestJet flights still being cancelled Tuesday as airline ramps up after strike
- WestJet strike ends as airline and union reach tentative agreement
- Regina Little League team eyes WestJet talks as it heads to nationals
There’s now a 30-day window for the ratification vote to be held. Until that happens, Seiferling says operations will get back to normal. In the meantime, those flying with the Canadian airline are being asked to travel with patience in the coming days.
In an emailed statement, the Saskatoon Airport Authority shared that one flight was cancelled Tuesday morning, but aside from that all of WestJet’s YXE operations, “have returned to normal.” However, the authority said there’s still the possibility of delays and cancellations for connecting flights.
Regina Airport Authority CEO James Bogusz joined the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Tuesday to discuss the strike’s impact on YQR and the long-term reduction in flights.
Listen to the full interview, or read the transcript below:
The following questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
GREG MORGAN: How crazy was it at YQR on the weekend through all of this?
JAMES BOGUSZ: Well, I can say it was a frustrating weekend for travelers. You’ve heard, I’m sure, the news right across Canada. Thousands of travelers had their flights canceled. We actually saw about 20 of their jets, and this is over the weekend, completely cancel. That’s representing close to 2,500 passengers arriving and departing that wouldn’t have made it into YQR.
They say it’s going to take a couple of days to get back, but I think it’s got to be longer, don’t you?
BOGUSZ: Well, I’ve noticed already that some of the jets flying is already beginning. Looking at Calgary this morning and Toronto, flights have departed. However, if you go to WestJet’s website right now, you’re unable to book a new flight for the next few days, so they’re clearly focusing on recovery to probably get all those stranded passengers back where they need to go.
What’s the cancelation board like for Regina today that you see?
BOGUSZ: Right now, things are pretty normal, which is surprising given the speed in which they made their announcement about the tentative agreement. But again, if you go to WestJet’s site and you try to book, for example, a flight between Regina and Calgary, you’re unable to do so at the moment. I think they’re truly focusing on recovery right now.
The airport itself can’t help anyone who is totally frustrated, right?
BOGUSZ: Well, credit to WestJet, they do provide information directly to passengers. We were recommending through the weekend, making sure people had their email address and phone number on their itinerary. I think, for the most part, people are being notified not to come to the airport if their flight was canceled. However, we still put on some extra staff. We made sure we could direct people accordingly. But Greg, I was hearing those phone lines to call WestJet were upwards of 10, 12 hours in some cases to be able to get a hold of them so, frankly, it was a challenging weekend all around. We’re just so glad that they’ve got this tentative agreement in place to get things back up and running.
Bring us up to date on some of the direct flights being affected in the long term at YQR.
BOGUSZ: WestJet’s going to be releasing their winter schedule later in August, but we’ve seen some early announcements. One of them, of course, is the super-exciting news that we’re going to be adding a new Mexico destination this year to Cabo. That’s going to be starting in December. It’s going to be running between the 14th on Mondays up until the end of March. But in contrast to that, we’ve seen some pretty steady declines in Las Vegas, and we’re going to be seeing that single non-stop weekly flight removed from the schedule this year. We’ve had that for years, but I looked at the data and Vegas is down about 25 per cent in demand from its peaks in 2018 and 2019. So with the U.S. stuff going on and the reduction in passengers, that’s not a huge surprise.
Just to clarify, no direct flight to Vegas or only one?
BOGUSZ: Typically there was one direct flight to Vegas in the past. That’s going to be removed from the schedule. To get to Vegas, you’re going to be able to connect through Denver, Calgary, or of course, Vancouver with Air Canada. Lots of ways to get down there, but there will not be a direct flight. Frankly, Greg, Vegas demand has just dropped considerably. And again, not surprised to see that off the schedule.
