Flyers stranded in Calgary amid WestJet mechanics strike

Long weekend plans for travellers in Calgary are now up in the air as WestJet cancels flights left and right following the unionized mechanics strike, leaving them with nowhere to go.

In an update Sunday, WestJet says it has cancelled nearly 700 flights, upending plans for nearly 100,000 passengers as the strike entered its third day of the busiest travel weekend of the season.

Saturday saw the highest number of flight cancellations with 282 trips being scrapped.

Some travellers at the Calgary International Airport told CityNews they are unable to take another flight and have not yet been offered another solution by the airline.

“I woke up this morning and received an email that I could get to Calgary and I was hopeful that once I arrived here I would be able to continue my travel but I’ve been told that’s not possible and the next availability is July 1st. I have to book a hotel so it really changes things for me,” one traveller said.

“I don’t know when they’re going to be starting back up again so we need to work out how we are going to get back to Australia so that we can get back to work,” said another traveller from Australia.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do now, so we are basically trying to work out a plan.”

Some flyers say they’ve been asked to call the airline for rebooking but even after spending hours waiting, there’s been no response.

“They’ve refused any reimbursement so far,” one person explained. “They also turned off all their phone lines, so we can’t even get a hold of them and no one is willing to talk to us, so we had to book flights through Air Canada for now. But when you call WestJet it just says line busy please wait for an email it can be up to 48 hours.”

The lack of communication has left them with few options, forcing them to change their plans, which has unexpected expenses, or long travel times trying to find another route.

“Well we looked at rental cars was about $2,500 for two days, we went to Air Canada that was $800 for one way if you could get a seat,” one man explained.

“You know we’re trying not to take it out on them but it’s extremely frustrating when you plan something months and months in advance.”

“Just waiting for my friend from Grand Prairie to drive here for like eight hours just to pick me up, it gets so messed up,” a woman said.

The union says they went on strike on Friday after 5:30 p.m. because WestJet has refused to negotiate after they rejected a tentative agreement.

“Their very good offer was taking from our retirement fund and giving it as a pay raise, so once again [WestJet’s] stealing from my back pocket and … putting it in my front pocket,” said Scott Christopherson, a negotiator with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).

“So it’s not just giving us a pay increase, [it’s] just re-allocating the funds.”

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan announced the orders on Thursday in a move aimed at avoiding a work stoppage that would disrupt thousands of flights for hundreds of thousands of travellers over the Canada Day long weekend.

However, the mechanics went in a different direction after saying it would “comply with the minister’s order.”

The Canada Industrial Relations Board gave them the go-ahead Thursday, saying the ministerial referral “does not have the effect of suspending the right to strike or lockout.”

O’Regan said Saturday that the board’s ruling was “clearly inconsistent” with his direction, but later added that he respected the independent body.

WestJet will continue parking aircraft in stations across Canada with significant disruptions.

With files from Nick Westoll and The Canadian Press