Passengers lose if WestJet pilots walk off the job, advocates say
EDMONTON — With no laws in Canada to specifically protect passengers, travellers have a lot to lose if WestJet pilots go on strike, a longtime passenger advocate says.
Gabor Lukacs, who founded Air Passenger Rights, a nonprofit network of volunteers, said people should be concerned about what will happen if the Calgary-based carrier’s pilots walk out.
“We have not heard a clear and unequivocal commitment from WestJet whether they have a contingency plan or what they would actually do,” he said. “I know what they should be doing ... buying passengers tickets (on another) airline, providing passengers with accommodation and hotel and meals as needed.”
On May 10, the Air Line Pilots Association said its WestJet members voted 91 per cent in favour of a strike. About 95 per cent of WestJet’s 1,500 pilots and WestJet Encore’s 500 pilots voted.
A legal strike could occur as early as May 19, but Rob McFadyen, chair of the master executive council of WestJet’s ALPA unit, has said his group made a commitment to keep flying over the May long weekend.
Lukacs said Europe has its Flight Compensation Regulation, which provides compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of flight cancellations.
Canada has no such regulation, which is why, in the event of a strike, travellers from Europe will be compensated under European law, but people travelling to Europe or within Canada will not be, he added.
In May 2017, Transport Minister Marc Garneau introduced an air passenger bill of rights designed to create regulations that are fair to airlines and passengers in Canada.
The regulations would impose what Garneau described as hefty fines on airlines in situations where a passenger has been bumped from an overbooked flight, had luggage lost or damaged, or was stuck on the tarmac for too long — but only if such incidents were within a carrier’s control.
However, the bill was stalled in Senate hearings.
In an email, WestJet said it is “making contingency plans in the event of a work stoppage” but would not provide details on what those plans are.