WestJet pilots could strike next week, but imminent walkout would be 'premature'

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

Talks between WestJet pilots and their employer dragged on Friday as the union warned a walkout could come as early as next week, leaving passengers' travel plans up in the air.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents some 1,600 flight crew at WestJet and subsidiary Swoop, said it is poised to file a 72-hour strike notice — but not at the earliest opportunity at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.

"I'm fairly certain that I won't be putting the strike notice in tonight," said Bernard Lewall, who heads the union's WestJet contingent, in a phone interview from outside the negotiating room at a venue in Richmond Hill, Ont.

"It'd be I think a little premature.

"Negotiations have been going OK," he added. "There's still quite a distance between the proposals, but we're both still coming to the table."

The workers' issues revolve around job protection, pay and scheduling, with some 340 pilots leaving the carrier over the past year and a half — mostly to other airlines — Lewall said.

WestJet says there have been three times more pilot hires than resignations at its mainline operation this year.

In a statement this week, the Calgary-based airline said its pilots are among the best paid in Canada, but that a contract on par with those recently secured by some U.S. pilot groups would be financially unworkable and put the company's future at risk.

"ALPA’s expectations of wages, if realized, would pose a significant impact to WestJet’s ability to remain competitive and provide affordable air travel to Canadians," the company said.

Labour shortages continue to plague the aviation industry, with a dearth of workers in areas ranging from air traffic control to ground handling as the sector begins to take off again after the pandemic collapse and travel turmoil over the past year.

In March, Delta Air Lines pilots secured a deal that includes a 34 per cent pay hike over four years.

The Air Canada Pilots Association is aiming for big gains too. In a letter to members Thursday, the union said workers must decide by May 29 whether to stick with their 10-year collective agreement inked in 2014 or opt to start full negotiations ahead of time this year.

“Pilots at Air Canada are working at a steep discount compared to our North American competitors,” the letter states, calling for "historic" gains in the next deal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.

Customer satisfaction with Air Canada, WestJet below average: Survey

Christopher Reynolds , The Canadian Press

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 for economy class service. WestJet notched 777 to edge out Air Canada, which scored 765.

Pricier fares, crowded planes and fewer flight options are behind the frustration — but demand remains strong nonetheless — said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at the Michigan-based consumer analytics company.

As a result, carriers yielded higher revenues this year after a prolonged industry slump prompted by the pandemic. Taylor said many are running at "peak efficiency," though higher labour and fuel costs compared with 2019 have hampered profit margins, and capacity has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels.

A global pilot shortage has fostered problems in North America, partly explaining why fewer planes ply the skies compared with four years ago.

Some airlines have ditched smaller planes, trying to pack in as many passengers as possible per flight as they slim down their schedules. 

"They're more full — they have a higher load factor — and that usually decreases satisfaction," Taylor said.

Meanwhile, the surge in leisure travel after two years under border restrictions and COVID-19 health concerns has pushed prices north.

"Because of that high demand, ticket prices are significantly higher, and they've been going higher for the past two, two-and-a-half years or so. For the vast majority of travellers, that's the key factor in satisfaction," he said.

That discontent is quantifiable in ways other than surveys. The complaints backlog at the Canadian Transportation Agency stood at about 45,000 as of late April, more than triple the tally from a year earlier and requiring at least 18 months on average per case. Many cases revolve around compensation claims after flight delays or cancellations.

The drawn-out uproar prompted the federal government to table an overhaul to Canada's passenger rights charter last month in an effort to tighten compensation loopholes and toughen penalties.

While a spate of upstart airlines has made domestic air travel cheaper than ever overall in Canada — particularly in the busiest corridors — passengers face higher prices and scarcer trip options in many regions and on international routes, according to figures from aviation data firm Cirium.

"You want to fly to, say, Winnipeg, it might be a little more expensive, because it's not the most popular destination versus, say, getting to Toronto," Taylor said.

The sparser flight boards at many airports also stem from a de facto division of the country by the two main players: Air Canada and WestJet, which share roughly 80 per cent of the domestic market.

Since last fall, Calgary-based WestJet has cut routes in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada to refocus on its home turf out west. It has also cut flights on some more heavily travelled corridors, including roughly four out of five trips between Toronto and Montreal compared to 2019 levels, Cirium data shows.

Montreal-based Air Canada has mirrored this move, remaining in Central and Eastern Canada while scaling back in the west. It also scrapped 26 regional routes east of Winnipeg in June 2020, with only two resuming since.

The survey Wednesday ranked airlines in three separate categories: first class and business class, premium economy, and economy and basic economy. In the first two groups, Air Canada placed fifth of six.

For economy — encompassing the vast majority of passengers — WestJet ranked fifth and Air Canada came eighth out of 11. Neither airline immediately responded to a request for comment.

Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways snagged the top three spots — despite a meltdown at Southwest that caused of thousands of December flight cancellations in what U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called a "system failure." American Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines took up the rear.

JetBlue and Delta came in first and second respectively for business class, and swapped spots for premium economy. United Airlines finished last for business class, and American Airlines did the same for premium economy.

The survey, carried out between March 2022 and March 2023, is based on responses from 7,774 passengers at scores of airports who flew on large North American airlines.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2023.