WestJet says a potential strike by airplane mechanics would upend travel plans for 250-thousand customers over the Canada Day long weekend.
The carrier has already begun to cancel flights, calling off roughly 25 trips on Thursday and Friday in anticipation of possible job action by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which has threatened to hit the picket lines as early as Friday afternoon.
WestJet’s decision to start concentrating its 180-plane fleet seeks to avoid leaving aircraft in far-flung locations and stranding passengers and crew.
As negotiations toward the union’s first collective agreement drag on in a windowless conference room at a hotel near Toronto’s Pearson airport, the tone of statements put out by the two sides has grown chippier.
The mechanics union, which represents about 680 workers has claimed WestJet is resorting to “brinksmanship” and “false accusations.”