WestJet will wind down Sunwing Airlines and integrate the low-cost carrier into its mainline business within two years as part of a strategy to streamline operations amid fierce competition. The move, announced in an internal memo obtained by The Canadian Press, has raised questions among some industry observers about the impact on airfares and travellers’…
WestJet to Wind Down Budget Airline Swoop, Fold It Into Main Operation
Amid fierce competition, WestJet will wind down its Swoop subsidiary by late October as it folds the budget airline’s operations under its main banner, the airline said Friday. The move marks a major shift in Canada’s aviation skyscape, arriving five years after Swoop first surfaced as a response to discount rival Flair Airlines’ launch in…
WestJet Pilots Deal Grants 24% Pay Raise Over Four Years
WestJet pilots are poised to get a 24 percent pay bump over four years under an agreement-in-principle between the company and the union. A copy of the tentative agreement summary obtained by The Canadian Press states that pilots will receive a 15.5 percent hourly pay raise this year retroactive to Jan. 1 upon ratification of…
WestJet Avoids Pilots’ Strike Through Last-Minute Tentative Agreement
The Calgary-based airline WestJet has signed a tentative agreement to avoid a labour strike threatened by the union representing its pilots. The strike would have forced the airline to ground the majority of its planes heading into a travel-heavy May long weekend. WestJet and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents around 1,800 pilots working for WestJet and…
WestJet Cancels 100-Plus Flights as Pilot Strike Looms and Customers Scramble
WestJet cancelled more than 100 flights on Thursday after talks with the pilots’ union hit a “critical impasse,” throwing travel plans into turmoil for thousands of passengers ahead of the May long weekend. Some 1,800 pilots at the carrier and its Swoop subsidiary are poised to walk off the job as of 3 a.m. MT…
WestJet Offers Travel Incentives as Strike Threatens to Disrupt Long Weekend Flights
WestJet has told air travellers that it will offer a one-time fee waiver for changes or cancellations with a looming pilot’s strike that could start as of 3 a.m. ET on May 18. More than 1,900 WestJet and subsidiary Swoop airlines pilots and their union have threatened strike action as the two sides remain divided…
WestJet Pilots Will Strike This Week if Airline Can’t Negotiate New Deal, Says Union
WestJet pilots will go on strike on May 19 if the airline can’t negotiate a new deal with their union, says the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The pilots are asking for better salaries, job protection, and shift scheduling. ALPA said in a news release on May 15 that the pilots issued a 72-hour strike notice to…
Customer Satisfaction With Air Canada, WestJet Below Average: Survey
Canada’s two biggest airlines scored below average for customer satisfaction among major North American carriers, according to a new survey, part of a trend of growing passenger frustration across the industry. Conducted by J.D. Power, the poll found Air Canada and WestJet fell below the average customer satisfaction figure of 782 on a 1,000-point scale…
WestJet Says Third Parties Should Share Compensation Costs After Flight Delays
WestJet Airlines is asking the federal government to allow airlines to recover passenger compensation costs from other aviation industry partners, if it believes those partners played a role in causing flight delays or disruptions. The CEO of the Calgary-based airline, Alexis von Hoensbroech, made the comments in Calgary on Wednesday during a Chamber of Commerce…
Sunwing Owes Ottawa Over $316 Million in Pandemic Loans: Federal Records
Sunwing Airlines Inc. owes Ottawa more than $316 million in unpaid federal loans that were issued during the COVID-19 pandemic as a relief measure, according to federal records. Sunwing, which WestJet is set to acquire, was granted $316.9 million in loans by the federal government in 2020 under the “Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility,” which…
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