The WestJet Group has cancelled about 40 flights in anticipation of a attainable strike by its plane upkeep staff on Thursday.
The airline says about 6,500 travellers have been affected by the choice overlaying flights on Tuesday and Wednesday. WestJet says it began cancelling and consolidating its flights with the intention to park plane in a protected and arranged method.
Some 670 WestJet mechanics, represented by the Plane Mechanics Fraternal Affiliation, are poised to stroll off the job as early as Thursday night time after serving the airline with strike discover earlier this week.
The flight cancellations got here as WestJet waits for a response to its request that the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) intervene.
If accepted, the transfer would refer the dispute to arbitration and stop labour motion by either side, the corporate says.
The union, whose members voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative settlement final week, opposes the transfer.
On Tuesday, Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan posted on the social media web site X, previously often called Twitter, that he has referred the dispute to the CIRB “to discover a path ahead for his or her first ever collective settlement.”
Reuters reported {that a} authorities supply stated on Wednesday that the CIRB is deliberating whether or not to intervene. The supply, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the scenario, stated the board might take a spread of actions, together with ordering arbitration.
