Passengers use the WestJet priority check-in area at Calgary International Airport on Thursday.Amir Salehi/The Globe and Mail
The labour dispute between WestJet and its flight attendants continues after the union representing them issued a 72-hour strike notice on Thursday, moving one step closer to a possible strike. Dozens of flights have already been cancelled ahead of Sunday’s strike deadline.
Here’s what you need to know about the potential WestJet strike and what it could mean for you.
When would the strike start?
Alia Hussain, left, who chairs CUPE’s WestJet contingent, speaks to the media in Calgary.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Flight attendants could walk off the job as soon as Sunday at 12:01 a.m. Mountain Time. On Thursday, the union issued a 72-hour strike notice.
WestJet initially responded to the strike notice by issuing a 72-hour lockout notice. “We sincerely regret the inconvenience and uncertainty this continues to cause for our guests,” said Alexis von Hoensbroech, chief executive officer of WestJet, in a statement.
WestJet cancelled 81 flights on Saturday. More cancellations are planned for the busy long weekend with 21 coming on Sunday and Monday, so far.
WestJet and the Canadian Union of Public Employees are in active bargaining sessions to negotiate a new collective agreement for the flight attendants.
“There’s still time to avoid a strike,” Alia Hussain, president of CUPE 8125, said in a news release Thursday. “We will continue to bargain around the clock until this is resolved.”
“We have been clear about what needs to change, and we have worked hard to reach a fair deal.”
On Friday, WestJet said it has started the process of parking its 737 aircraft. Airlines typically begin to wind down flight schedules ahead of a labour deadline to avoid stranded crews and aircraft.
CUPE Local 8125 represents 4,400 WestJet flight attendants. In the July 15 vote, 99.4 per cent of its members voted in favour of a strike.
In a statement announcing the vote results, Hussain said union members were united and determined. She called on the airline to return to bargaining “with a new focus.”
“They voted to strike because they stand behind the bargaining priorities that they have identified, especially pay for all hours of work performed. WestJet should do the right thing and prevent travel disruptions for their passengers,” she said.
What happens if WestJet goes on strike? Which routes will be cancelled?
WestJet passenger jets are shown parked at departure gates at Calgary International Airport on May 31, 2023.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
All flights operated by WestJet – Canada’s second-largest airline – would be grounded if flight attendants walk off the job. The airline said those impacted would be refunded or reaccommodated, “as applicable,” if delays or cancellations occurred. WestJet says it operates more than 600 flights per day and transports more than 70,000 passengers on some days.
In a statement on its website, the Calgary-based airline said that trips on Q400 planes — smaller aircraft generally used to fly regional routes across Canada — and WestJet codeshare flights operated by its airline partners would not be impacted by a strike. Some of WestJet’s partners include Fiji Airways, Air France and Delta Air Lines.
WestJet is also offering one-time booking changes without fees ahead of the potential strike. It says the flexible travel policy applies to those planning to travel between July 30 and Aug. 4.
What happens if your flight is cancelled because of a strike?
Passengers are seen in the WestJet check-in area at Pearson International Airport, in Toronto, June 29, 2024.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Flights that are cancelled because of labour disputes are considered a situation outside of the airline’s control, according to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations. The rules require that passengers be rebooked on the next available flight with a partner airline, which must depart within 48 hours of the original departure time.
If passengers can’t be rebooked within 48 hours, they have the right to a refund. Airlines must also try to rebook the customer on any airline after 48 hours, including its competitors, if the customer chooses not to take the refund.
WestJet was hit with a fine of $204,000 in February, 2025, after failing to provide passengers with alternative reservations in June and July, 2024. Multiple flights had been cancelled during that period, when aircraft mechanics were striking over the Canada Day long weekend.
Why are the flight attendants going on strike?
WestJet flight attendants during their 'Day of Action' protest on July 14.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
CUPE governs pay, scheduling and working conditions for the airline’s cabin crew. Its collective agreement expired at the end of 2025.
The union held the strike vote after months of negotiations with the airline failed to yield any significant movement on a key issue: ground pay for flight attendants.
As it stands, WestJet flight attendants are only compensated when the plane is in the air. They are not paid for work they do in the airport or on the plane before it departs. They also do not get paid for work done after the plane lands.
Employees are paid as per the “credit hour” system. A credit hour is equal to one flight-time hour, which WestJet says is approximately one-and-a-half hours of duty time. The credit hour combines flight time, ground duties, delays and other work into “a single, higher rate of pay.” That rate is “the standard pay model for cabin crew across North America,” the airline said.
The union is fighting to amend the credit hour system in favour of an hourly wage system for work done by cabin crew before a flight departs. WestJet says the credit hour system provides wages on a basis other than duty time worked, and all time is compensated according to the collective agreement.
Didn’t Air Canada’s flight attendants go on strike last year for similar reasons?
Air Canada flight attendants strike outside Montreal–Trudeau International Airport on Aug. 16, 2025.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Air Canada flight attendants went on a nation-wide strike in August, 2025, over wages and the issue of unpaid work.
Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu had invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code 12 hours into the strike. The legislation gives the minister unilateral power to order binding arbitration and end work stoppages to secure “industrial peace.”
The flight attendants defied the back-to-work order issued by the federal government, resulting in a three-day strike and the grounding of domestic and international Air Canada flights.
The union and the airline then brokered a tentative deal which, for the first time, gives flight attendants partial ground pay. For one hour prior to takeoff, flight attendants would receive 50 per cent of their hourly rate as ground pay. This would rise to 70 per cent by the fourth year of the contract.
CUPE also represents Air Canada flight attendants.
The clock is ticking toward a strike deadline that could see 4,400 WestJet flight attendants walk off the job as soon as Sunday.
The Canadian Press
With reports from Vanmala Subramaniam, Globe staff and The Canadian Press