WestJet starts cancelling flights ahead of pilot strike

WestJet Group said it has “started taking down its network” ahead of looming strikes by WestJet and Swoop pilots. “This action ensures the airline can avoid abandoning aircraft in remote locations without support and enables the proactive communication with guests and crew to minimise the potential for being stranded”, the carrier said, describing a “stalemate” with the pilots and the Air Line Pilots Int’l (ALPA) union over “unreasonable wage expectations”. “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