For the first time in many years, it looks like pilots at a major North American airline will be going on strike (which is different than the recent strike authorization votes we’ve seen at virtually all major US airlines).
In this post:
WestJet pilots are about to go on strike
We’v’e seen pilots at many airlines negotiating new contracts in recent months, given that travel demand is once again up significantly after the pandemic, and there’s a pilot shortage. The negotiations are especially tense at Calgary-based WestJet.
WestJet and its pilots have been negotiating a new contract for quite some time, but can’t seem to come to an agreement. As a result, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents roughly 1,800 WestJet pilots, has issued a legal notice that pilots will be going on a 72-hour strike starting at 5AM ET on Friday, May 19, 2023.
While it’s always possible that some last minute negotiations could take place, WestJet is more or less preparing to shut down for the long weekend. The airline is making it a priority to bring all planes and crews back to their bases, so we’re already seeing flights being canceled on Thursday, to minimize the chaos. A vast majority of mainline flights are expected to be canceled over the 72-hour period, unless there’s last minute progress with negotiations.
Here’s how WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech describes the situation:
“We are extremely disheartened to find ourselves in a place where we have to activate our contingency plan and subsequent takedown of our network as a result of the strike notice served by ALPA and their inability to accept a reasonable offer. We deeply regret the disruption this will have on the travel plans of our guests and the communities and businesses that rely on our critical air service. We remain at a critical impasse with the union and have been left with no choice but to begin taking the painful steps of preparing for the reality of a work stoppage.”
“We remain at the bargaining table, unequivocally committed to achieving a deal as soon as possible, but are equally ready to weather labour action for as long as it takes to arrive at a reasonable outcome. Any guest impact is too high of a cost in the wake of these negotiations and we sincerely apologize that valued guests were caught in the middle of an avoidable conflict.”
What are WestJet pilots asking for?
Why is there such a substantial gap between what WestJet management is offering and what pilots are willing to accept? It depends which party you ask.
If you ask WestJet management, the company claims it has made a very reasonable and generous offer to pilots at the airline. The company states that its latest offer could have raised salaries to around $300,000 for narrow body captains and around $350,000 for wide body captains (in CAD), before overtime and other allowances. This would have made WestJet narrow body pilots the highest paid in Canada, for these kinds of aircraft.
The union claims that those numbers do not represent what most WestJet pilots would earn, and that there’s a wide range of salaries for those with lower seniority, etc. The union’s main issue seems to be that pilots are working at a “steep discount” compared to what pilots in the United States are being paid. The union claims that pilots at WestJet are making 45% of the average pay in the United States.
Essentially WestJet pilots want their pay to be modeled after what pilots at US airlines make. Delta pilots recently negotiated an industry-leading contract, America’s CEO has promised a new contract that could see pilots earning up to $590,000 per year (USD), and United pilots say they want a better contract than what Delta has negotiated.
WestJet management of course points out that it would be difficult to match US market pay rates, given the currency exchange between the countries, as well as the different economics. This gap has existed for decades.
Bottom line
WestJet pilots are preparing to go on a 72-hour strike, and the airline is in the process of canceling most flights between Friday and Sunday. If this strike happens, it will be the first one we’ve seen from pilots in North America in many years.
It seems that WestJet has offered pilots significant pay increases, but pilots are hoping to narrow the gap between pilot pay in Canada and the United States, given the current pilot shortage. I imagine this could be a nasty battle, since those expectations are fundamentally different from what the company is willing to offer.
What do you make of the upcoming WestJet pilot strike?
@Tyler Although Canada is reputed to have good social benefits (don't expect to see a specialist within 6 months for initial assessment, or elective surgery within a year) they come from the incredibly high Income Taxes that every employee pays. Not from the employer. Marginal tax rate which kicks in at a very low level is in the order of 55% or higher depending on the Province of residence.
So after tax there's not a hell of a lot left.
100%
All these unions are delusional on these demands. Be happy you're making great pay.
This could be a long strike the federal govt is Liberal and is only interested in East Coast Canada or Quebec based Airlines like Air Canada.
Also it's a minority Federal Govt backed up by the Union NDP, who won't want to vote pilots back to work.
However the NDP probably believe the pilots are elitist and may not be worried about ordering them back to work.
Either way, with an inept...
This could be a long strike the federal govt is Liberal and is only interested in East Coast Canada or Quebec based Airlines like Air Canada.
Also it's a minority Federal Govt backed up by the Union NDP, who won't want to vote pilots back to work.
However the NDP probably believe the pilots are elitist and may not be worried about ordering them back to work.
Either way, with an inept federal government at the moment with no care about the west coast, it's going to be an interesting outcome.
I have an upcoming flight ticketed on Delta with one segment on WestJet metal. Flight is still scheduled but wonder how Delta will handle if WJ flight is canceled?
To give some information about *why* negotiations are going so bad, the sticking point is Swoop, who are on the same contract. Right now, Swoop pilots start at 39,800USD and captains at only 73,800USD.
WestJet had some of the best morale and labour relations a decade ago, but repeatedly trying to cheat their pilots and outsourcing their flying from their already discounted normal rates to Swoop have made things so poisoned there it's unbelievable.
For...
To give some information about *why* negotiations are going so bad, the sticking point is Swoop, who are on the same contract. Right now, Swoop pilots start at 39,800USD and captains at only 73,800USD.
WestJet had some of the best morale and labour relations a decade ago, but repeatedly trying to cheat their pilots and outsourcing their flying from their already discounted normal rates to Swoop have made things so poisoned there it's unbelievable.
For context as to how poorly paid Swoop pilots are paid even in Canada, other ULCCs in Canada have starting salaries over 50% higher.
I don't believe for a second when WJ is claiming numbers like "300,000" that they are being truthful more than a dozen pilots will make that, the sticking point is almost assuredly that junior pilots will continue to make garbage pay.
And for those saying "Canadians can't be paid anything like the US", why not? Pricing, household income, cost of living are all comparable. Canada is a more expensive country to live in than the US. The answer is, and has been, the strength of the pilot unions in the US protecting their interests.
This is similar to what is seen in other industries as well. Employees in other Western countries, most especially Canada, want to be paid like they’re US employees but without losing any of the social benefits that they receive in their countries that the US doesn’t have.
They seem to not understand that US business margins are fundamentally different from business margins outside the US due to corporate tax contributions. If you want to be...
This is similar to what is seen in other industries as well. Employees in other Western countries, most especially Canada, want to be paid like they’re US employees but without losing any of the social benefits that they receive in their countries that the US doesn’t have.
They seem to not understand that US business margins are fundamentally different from business margins outside the US due to corporate tax contributions. If you want to be paid like you live in the US, immigrate to the US. Thousands of Canadians do it every year.
That's a very nice sentiment Tyler. May I ask what visa pilots may use?
I'm a Canadian working for another airline flying 737s and have looked into it, hell my sim partner had US citizenship but because his licenses were Canadian he decided to stay.
Visa waits presently north of two years. We can't get sponsored to work for US airlines because they demand (reasonably) that you have right to work before applying.
E-3...
That's a very nice sentiment Tyler. May I ask what visa pilots may use?
I'm a Canadian working for another airline flying 737s and have looked into it, hell my sim partner had US citizenship but because his licenses were Canadian he decided to stay.
Visa waits presently north of two years. We can't get sponsored to work for US airlines because they demand (reasonably) that you have right to work before applying.
E-3 allows for pilots, but that's open to Australians, not Canadians.
EB-1 requires an extremely high bar of prominence
An EB-2 NIW requires you to prove "exceptional ability requirement" such as having authored peer-reviewed papers or having work that goes outside your employer. Not typically applicable to an airline pilot, whose flying is for a company.
See below:
https://pilotsglobal.com/national-interest-waiver
The US also has difficult and expensive license conversions (including the ATP/CTP course which does not exist in Canada). Most US candidates have this course paid for by their regional airline before flying a jet, and there is no way to challenge/experience out of it coming from a major airline abroad. You have to pay your way to the US, buy the course yourself at the cost of tens of thousands, and then *hope* it's worth it and you can get sponsorship for a visa after.
Basically "just move to the US" is a sentiment that is easy to say, but hard to actually do if you aren't already an American by birth.
So Westjet is comparing themselves to a global and nation conglomerate in another country? Pilots are in high demand but discretionary spending will decline pretty quickly in the next 12-24 months which could all of a sudden cause the opposity problem of a pilot shortage.
Seems unreasonable to expect the same as pilots get in the USA. This is a different market. Every industry has a pay gap to the USA. Let market forces dictate, if pilots leave for the USA then WestJet would have to align.
short-term strikes are allowed in some countries but not w/ US airlines. Going into the peak summer season is highly risky for Westjet and for the pilot careers. I doubt it will work out well for either side or for other Canadian airlines that are in various parts of the same process.
Might as well just work it out now ? Isn’t that usually the outcome of a strike ? How long do pilot strikes usually last ?