Late Thursday, just hours before a 3 am MT lockout/ strike deadline, WestJet Group has announced it reached a tentative agreement with the union representing WestJet and Swoop pilots.
It's the second collective bargaining agreement between the airline and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The agreement still needs to be ratified by a vote by pilots.
As of Open Jaw's press time, ALPA had not issued its own statement about the conclusion of negotiations.
Open Jaw has reported that the pilots had been demanding an industry- or "North American-" standard agreement which would have aligned Canadian pilots' compensation with recent rich deals achieved by some of their U.S. counterparts.
On its part, WestJet had maintained that the Canadian air industry and market could not support the same levels of pay and remain competitive.
WestJet in its early-morning statement 19MAY did not reveal any terms of the deal.
However, in a video statement, a weary-looking Alexis von Hoensbroech, WestJet Group's CEO, who, along with other WestJet Group top brass personally participated in negotiations with the pilots' union in the Toronto area this week, reiterated the airline's appreciation of its pilots, and also thanked all its workers and customers:
"The WestJet Group is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that is industry-leading within Canada and recognizes the important contributions of our valued pilots by providing meaningful improvements to job security and scope, working conditions and wages," said Alexis von Hoensbroech, WestJet Group Chief Executive Officer. "We appreciate we were able to arrive at a deal, however, recognize the impact on our guests and we sincerely appreciate their patience during this time. We are pleased to now return our focus to providing friendly, reliable and affordable air service to Canadians for years to come."
As Open Jaw reported, WestJet began cancelling flights 18MAY to avoid labour action stranding aircraft, crew and customers abroad. According to CBC, over one hundred flights had already been cancelled before a deal was reached.
Having reached a tentative agreement with ALPA, it says it is ramping back up its operations "as quickly and efficiently as possible, however the full resumption of operations will take time."
Guests remain encouraged to continue to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
