WestJet’s plan for a no-frills line may affect union drives

WestJet’s plan to launch an ultra-low-cost carrier could stoke union sentiment among employees concerned about wages and working conditions, experts say.

The Calgary-based airline, which announced last week it would launch a no-frills carrier before the end of the year, has been nonunionized since its first flight in 1996. However, two separate union drives targeting flight attendants and pilots are underway at the airline, with the pilots expected to formally vote on unionization in May.

The Air Line Pilots Association — the international union that represents pilots at 32 airlines across North America, including Air Transat and Jazz Aviation — is behind that vote, having announced last week that pilots at WestJet had formally filed membership cards with the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

The pilots association did not respond to a request for comment about WestJet’s ultra-lowcost carrier plans, but the internal group seeking to unionize the company’s flight attendants said in a Facebook post that the prospect of a no-frills carrier highlights the “urgent need for unions and job security” at WestJet.

“WestJet’s announcement that it plans to start an ultra low-cost carrier shows how important it is for WestJet flight attendants to have an independent union negotiating job security, work rules and compensation,” the WestJet Professional Flight Attendants Association said. “By applying to join ALPA, our pilots have taken the first step to protect their careers and economic interests — it’s time that flight attendants did the same.”

Though passengers have embraced ultra-low-cost carriers like Europe’s Ryanair, leading to the proliferation of no-frills airlines around the globe in recent years, critics say the business model puts airlines in a race to the bottom.

In addition to squeezing more passengers onto planes and charging extra for niceties like carry-ons and sodas, one of the secrets of success typically used by ultralow-cost carriers is a lower wage structure.

David Camfield, an associate professor of labour studies and sociology at the University of Manitoba, said WestJet pilots are probably concerned about what their employer’s latest venture means for them and their profession — and that could have repercussions for the company with a unionization vote looming.

“It might tip more pilots to vote yes,” Camfield said. “It all needs to be put in the context of what is happening in the broader industry … And I think in general there are concerns about deteriorating conditions for pilots. It’s not just about wages — it’s about schedules and all kinds of other things.”

AltaCorp Capital analyst Chris Murray said he thinks there is a market for an ultra-low-cost carrier in Canada, but for WestJet to be successful, it won’t be able to stick to the status quo.

“I would expect a different wage scale — maybe not a lower wage scale, but probably very different work rules,” Murray said. “There’s probably a lot of confusion and concern (among employees) about the changes this may mean for WestJet, and that’s a very fair reaction you would expect. Having said that, I still think this probably strategically one of WestJet’s better ideas.”

In an email, WestJet spokesperson Lauren Stewart said the airline would not speculate as to what factors could impact the upcoming pilot unionization vote. But she said the company’s plan to launch an ultra-low-cost carrier is dependent on getting the go-ahead from its pilots, who are currently represented by an employer-sanctioned in-house employee group.

The upcoming vote marks the second formal unionization attempt in two years at WestJet.

Pilots voted no to union representation in 2015.