WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech says the company and its pilots' union remain far apart on key sticking points — especially wages — as negotiations heat up and the clock ticks down on a strike deadline.
"The gap is still massive," von Hoensbroech said during a video call Tuesday night from the bargaining venue, a hotel north of Toronto.
Around 1,800 pilots at WestJet and its Swoop subsidiary are poised to walk off the job as of 3 a.m. eastern daylight time Friday after the union issued a strike notice Monday night.
The standoff leaves thousands of passengers with travel plans for the May long weekend and beyond hanging in limbo — and has already affected bookings.
"We do see softening in bookings," the CEO said. "It is painful.
"Although we still get bookings, so the majority of our guests seem to assume that we are maintaining flying. And this is our intention."
The company hasn't turned an annual profit since 2019 due the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
With more than 16,700 flights slated for this month, WestJet carries nearly a third of Canada's domestic market, while Air Canada has half of it.
Bernard Lewall, who heads the Air Line Pilot Association's WestJet contingent, has said pay, scheduling and job security remain the points of dispute.
In response to the strike notice, WestJet issued a lockout notice shortly before midnight Monday to maintain "control" over its planes, the CEO said.
"If a strike hits us on short notice at a point where we don't expect it, we may strand an airplane somewhere in the Caribbean — in I don't know where," von Hoensbroech said. "Then we are in trouble."
The CEO as well as WestJet's chief operating officer and chief financial officer have all descended on a hotel in Richmond Hill, Ont., to try to hash out a deal with the union.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra encouraged the two sides to reach a resolution, noting a federal mediator is on the ground.
"I do not want to put my finger on the scale," he said. "Obviously the airlines have obligations towards their customers. But ultimately the biggest obligation is to make sure that they deliver the service that they sold to customers."
In the event of a delay or cancellation, customers will be "refunded or re-accommodated, as applicable," the airline said Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2023.
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Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
