Is the collapse of air travel in Canada coming?
Local pilots go out on strike, and travelers are terrified.
Canadian civil servants have stopped protesting, but the country is once again restless. The WestJet pilots' union said Monday that 1 800 people are preparing to go on strike Friday. It will last 72 hours. Experts predict it will lead to a short-term collapse of air travel in Canada -— WestJet is the second-largest company in the country. Travelers are terrified: scheduled flights are canceled and all plans are down the drain. Some Canadians are not going on vacation or even on a business trip, but to another city to get serious medical care. So the strike jeopardizes not only the leisure time of citizens, but also their health. At least the company management has volunteered to reimburse the cost of tickets for May 19-21.
The WestJet union says the strike will begin Friday at 3 a.m. Ottawa time if the administration does not meet their demands. The reason for the protests is simple: pilots are dissatisfied with low wages and lack of long-term contracts. Many of them have not been able to sign a contract of employment with the carrier for seven months now. This puts them in a vulnerable position: they do not know what to expect in a month, whether they will have a stable job and salary.
Canada's airline industry has fallen on hard times: It's been in decline since 2019. Residents have been flying less since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. This sector of the economy has still not recovered to its pre-recession values, let alone any growth.
WestJet executives say they understand the pilots' sentiments and are negotiating with the union, but they can't raise salaries significantly due to lower revenues. They are also afraid to sign long-term contracts — if Canadians don't fly enough airplanes, they'll have to cut the number of pilots.
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