WestJet flight attendants set to strike Sunday unless last-minute deal emerges

Unless a deal closes in the next 48 hours, 4,400 WestJet flight attendants will walk off the job as early as July 30.

Cabin crew voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate in mid-July. The union must give 72 hours' notice before a strike begins — meaning the airline could start grounding flights by Friday, July 31 to manage the disruption. Past airline labour standoffs have seen carriers ramp up cancellations days before a walkout.

WestJet says passengers with flights booked July 30 through August 4 can change or cancel once for free. Regional WestJet Encore flights and code-shares (like Delta) won't be affected. But those are narrow carve-outs: a full shutdown during peak summer travel would cost WestJet millions, said John Gradek, an aviation management instructor at McGill University.

The core dispute is unpaid work. Flight attendants say ground duties — boarding, cleaning, safety checks — happen before paid flight time begins, eating hours from their day. "The sticking point for us is unpaid work and how our wage is triggered," said Alia Hussain, chair of the union's WestJet contingent. "We believe there is a large amount of unpaid work." The same issue sparked a work stoppage by 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants less than a year ago.

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech framed strike authorization as a routine negotiating step: "Strike authorization does not mean a strike will occur. We are steadfast in our commitment to reach a meaningful agreement." But the Canadian Union of Public Employees has been escalating its public campaign — rallies across the country, ads on podcasts and TikTok — signalling the union is prepared to walk.

If the airline cancels flights ahead of a strike, passengers can rebook on any carrier and claim up to $1,000 in compensation under air passenger rights, according to Air Passenger Rights president Gabor Lukacs. The same applies if a strike begins.