WestJet CEO, pilots' union head clash over compensation as strike looms
CBC
No sign of a breakthrough emerged in talks between WestJet and its pilots Wednesday, as the company's CEO deemed the union's expectations unrealistic while the Air Line Pilots Association slammed the airline for trying to "publicly villainize" its workers.
WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said late Tuesday the two sides remained far apart on key sticking points — especially wages — as bargaining heats up and the clock ticks down on a strike deadline.
"The gap is still massive," von Hoensbroech said from the bargaining venue, a hotel north of Toronto. Neither the company nor the union provided a concrete update Wednesday on the state of negotiations.
More than 1,800 pilots at WestJet and its Swoop subsidiary are poised to potentially walk off the job as of 3 a.m. MT on Friday after the union issued a strike notice Monday night.
The standoff has left thousands of passengers with travel plans for the May long weekend and beyond hanging in limbo.
In recognition of that uncertainty, the airline is offering refunds to passengers who cancel flights scheduled until May 21, and fee-free changes to bookings within the same period.
The potential strike has already created a drop in bookings for the airline, which hasn't turned a profit since 2019, said von Hoensbroech.
"We have gone through three years of a pandemic that has left very deep scars," he said.
While the carrier is still recovering, its latest offer to the union would see wide-body plane captains earn $350,000 in total compensation annually by the end of the collective agreement term, according to a letter to flight crew from the company and obtained by The Canadian Press. Narrow-body captains would earn $300,000.
"Immediately upon the effective date, WestJet pilots would have had the highest narrow-body first officer and captain top-step wage rate in Canada," the Monday night letter states.
The union says the figures don't tell the full story.
"WestJet management's decision to selectively manipulate and cherry-pick salary numbers is an exercise in creative accounting practices that in no way reflect the actual reality of compensation for its pilots," said Bernard Lewall, who heads the Air Line Pilot Association's WestJet contingent, in a statement.
"We encourage WestJet management to put their efforts into negotiating a contract, instead of trying to publicly villainize the very pilots who are fighting to be a part of the airline's future success and help the company recognize its own highly touted growth strategy."
The Air Canada Pilots Association said last week that flight crews are working at a "steep discount" compared to their U.S. counterparts, a concern that Lewall has echoed following a 34 per cent pay hike over four years secured in March by Delta Air Lines pilots.
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