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Image: Tara Clow

WestJet still working through work disruption

By Randy Thoms Jul 3, 2024 | 11:03 AM

WestJet continues to deal with the impact of the labour dispute with its aircraft engineers.

A deal was reached Sunday, but WestJet had cancelled over 11,00 flights and parked 130 planes.

As of Tuesday, more than 100,000 air travellers were impacted.

“We are grateful to be recovering our operation; however, we fully recognize the continued impact on our guests and sincerely appreciate their patience and understanding, says Diederik Pen, President of WestJet Airlines and Group Chief Operating Officer, in a statement issued.

“Across our airline, our teams are working around the clock to safely bring the 130 aircraft parked across Canada back to the skies as efficiently as possible.”

As of Tuesday, only eight flights scheduled for Wednesday were cancelled.

The company says aircraft parked must go through a standard maintenance and safety check before returning to service.

Some aircraft are at airports where no crew base exists, meaning the need to transport flight staff from their home communities.

WestJet says other key staff were also disrupted and have slowly been returning to the job.

It has also been working to accommodate air travellers whose flights were cancelled.

WestJet says because the labour disruption happened during a peak travel period, options for alternative flights have been challenging.

Under Canadian law, travellers can request refunds if WestJet can not accommodate them within 48 hours of their flights being disrupted.