As Canada enters one of the busiest summer holiday travel weekends of the year, tens of thousands of passengers are bracing for widespread flight disruptions after flight attendants at WestJet, the country’s second-largest air carrier, issued a 72-hour strike notice that will expire early Sunday morning. Unless last-minute negotiations between the airline and the flight attendants’ union deliver a breakthrough deal, 6,400 cabin crew represented by CUPE 8125 will walk off the job starting 02:01 EST on Sunday.
The labour dispute centers on long-running disagreements over ground pay, a core compensation issue that has divided the two sides since collective bargaining first launched in September 2025. Last month, union members voted by an overwhelming 99% margin to authorize a strike, after years of contention over how the airline compensates crew for pre-departure work. According to CUPE 8125, WestJet flight attendants are often forced to work up to 35 unpaid hours each month completing routine ground duties, including passenger boarding, safety inspections, assisting mobility-impaired travelers, and waiting out ground delays. “Boarding, safety sweeps, assisting passengers, and ground delays are entirely on our dime,” union representatives explained on their official campaign website, pushing for sweeping changes to the current pay structure.
WestJet defends its existing pay model, which compensates crew based on block hours—time counted from when an aircraft pushes back from the departure gate to when it parks at the arrival gate. The airline notes this structure is the industry standard for cabin crew across North America, and argues that block hour wages already incorporate compensation for pre-takeoff and post-landing duties. The Calgary-based carrier, which operates services to more than 130 domestic and international destinations, adds that current hourly wages for flight attendants range from C$28 to C$58, putting total compensation in line with sector averages.
Alia Hussain, president of CUPE 8125, emphasized that the union’s top priority remains reaching a fair agreement without disrupting travel plans for thousands of summer vacationers. “We have been clear about what needs to change, and we have worked hard to reach a fair deal,” Hussain said, adding that “the parties are still too far apart on some key issues” as the strike deadline approaches. Both sides confirmed that active negotiations are still ongoing as of Saturday, leaving a narrow window to avoid a work stoppage.
In anticipation of a potential strike, WestJet has already begun proactive steps to minimize chaos for passengers. The airline pre-emptively canceled 81 scheduled flights on Saturday, with additional disruptions expected if the strike proceeds, to avoid stranding passengers and aircraft at airports across the country. WestJet has also rolled out fee-free change and cancellation policies for all passengers booked to travel between Thursday and Tuesday, allowing travelers to adjust their plans at no extra cost. “If a strike leads to cancellations or delays, impacted guests will be refunded or re-accommodated, as applicable,” the airline said in an official statement. The carrier has urged all passengers to check their flight status regularly via its mobile app and website before heading to the airport.
Under Canadian airline passenger protection regulations, WestJet is legally required to rebook impacted passengers on the next available flight operated by either its own fleet or a partner airline. If no suitable seats are available through those options, the carrier must arrange rebooking on a competing airline to get passengers to their destinations at no additional cost. The airline noted that regional WestJet Encore Q400 flights and WestJet codeshare flights operated by partner carriers will not be impacted by the strike, even if cabin crew walk off the job. The potential shutdown of core WestJet operations comes during one of the busiest long travel weekends of the Canadian summer, when millions of people travel to visit family and take vacations, raising the risk of cascading delays across the country’s air network if a strike proceeds.