The strike by WestJet flight attendants has ended after a tentative agreement was reached overnight.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 8125 and WestJet announced they reached a tentative agreement early Monday morning at 4:15 a.m. Mountain time.
“This tentative agreement represents meaningful progress on the issues we brought to the table,” said CUPE local 8125 president Alia Hussain in a news conference Monday. “It improves on the long-standing flight credit system by recognizing more of the work that cabin crew are required to perform and increasing the compensation for that work.”
Hussain said it’s not the end of the process and the union will be putting together presentations to take to membership. The agreement will need to be ratified within 30 days.
“We wouldn’t bring a deal to our membership if we didn’t believe that the puzzle pieces, in the way that they would come together, would be something that they would ratify,” she said.
She added that WestJet’s most recent offer, which was put forward late Saturday night ahead of the strike, had “evolved” in a way that “made sense” to bring to members.
“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that reflects the hard work and professionalism our cabin crew,” said WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.
The dispute centred largely on compensation for work performed on the ground, including boarding passengers, completing safety checks and managing delays.
Neither side outlined details of the agreement, but the company on Sunday released details of the offer it said it had put forward in those last-minute talks late Saturday.
It included a 13 per cent pay increase effective Oct. 1 and retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026. This would be followed by 2.5 per cent increases annually to 2029.
The offer also included what it called a “duty pay premium.” The airline defined this as a payment for all duty hours, “additional pay for all hours worked designed to solve the union’s claim of unpaid work,” which it claims is equivalent to another 12 per cent salary increase.
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A CUPE spokesperson declined to detail exactly how the tentative agreement differs from the earlier offer when asked by Global News, instead pointing to Hussain’s comments at Monday’s news conference.
Global News has asked WestJet to provide details on the agreement.
WestJet declined to comment on details of the tentative agreement, which it said was “customary” while it waited for the deal to be ratified.
But the company said during the ratification period, a strike or lockout is not possible and encouraged travellers to plan, book and travel with the airline “with confidence.”
Asked if the tentative offer the company presented addresses the wage gap between WestJet members and flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Transat, Hussain said it does but did not elaborate.
CUPE members went on strike just after midnight Mountain Time Sunday when last-minute talks failed.
Earlier this week, the union issued strike notice with the earliest a strike could take place set for Sunday. The company, in response, issued lockout notice.
WestJet began winding down jet flights on Saturday and suspended all of its 737 and 787 flights on Sunday. According to the company, the suspension was to last at least until Aug. 6, though the grounding could be extended.
Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu hailed the settlement in a statement Monday.
“The federal government and Canadians welcome the news that the parties have reached a deal together, at the bargaining table,” she said in a post on X.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce applauded the deal, saying it was welcome news for travellers.
“It will take time for WestJet’s network to fully resume operations, but this is welcome news for stranded travellers, businesses, communities, and those relying on the movement of time-sensitive goods,” said Pascal Chan, the chamber’s vice-president of strategic policy and supply chains.
He went on to say the chamber was pleased the deal was reached before the disruption caused “greater harm,” but a stronger labour relations framework is needed.
Flights aren’t expected take off immediately, even with the strike over.
“We know this disruption has been frustrating for our guests and WestJetters and we’re sorry for that,” said von Hoensbroech in the Monday statement. “Our teams are working hard to restore service and get our guests on their way to their destinations as quickly as possible and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we get back to normal.”
Ian Lee, a professor of management at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, said there’s a process before the airline can resume a full schedule.
“It’s very, very disruptive because they incur all kinds of costs,” he told Global News. “When the strike ends, people don’t send the plane back out on the runway.”
He noted the airline is subject to “elaborate” safety rules and regulations, including rechecking every plane and its parts.
While several flights across the country remained cancelled Monday, some were starting to return to the sky, according to WestJet.
“Flights have begun to operate, however, the impacts of the disruption continue as the airline works to restore its network,” a spokesperson for Sunwing and WestJet Media said in an email.
WestJet said when the strike began that its Encore flights would continue to operate.
While the strike is over, the union will still need to take the tentative agreement to its members to be voted on. The union said members should refer to their email for more details.
—with a file from Global News’ Sean Boynton
There is no reference to Carney in this article. Even his minister congratulates the two parties for resolving it at the bargaining table. The illusion that Carney can negotiate is just that, an illusion.
Yet again Global removing valid comments criticizing Carney
Canadians believe whatever the mainstream media tells them to believe. The truth is Carney didn’t end this, instead he stayed out of it due to his distain for working-class Canadians. Same as JT, he hated normal white Canadians.
Nowhere in this article does it say Carney concerned himself with this strike. Yet people are praising him for something he didn’t do. Some Canadians are totally blinded to what Carney is and isn’t doing.
George – CUPE and WestJet both confirmed Carney had no role in this. They took no action and sat on the fence
Without pressure from the Carney government, this deal would not have been made. Fantastic news!
Carney was a total coward with this work stoppage. Sat on the fence the whole time.
Only a high school do-loam and a few weeks training required.
Want a better job than an air waitress, go back to school.
So morally the Flight Attendants owe Westjet the out of pocket expenses (cancellation refunds and penalties, loss of profit…)
Maybe the public that was affected should start a class action against the Flight Attendant Union for all the disruption they caused.
This holding the public hostage has got to stop.
@Binyamēm,
Carney did nothing to reach this conclusion. He hates working class people, just like most liberal voters do.
@never fly with you again – BREAKING NEWS (for you, at least): you don’t need to book a flight with any company to get from your double-wide to your ditch.
@Biny
CUPE confirmed earlier today that Carney govt took no action and had no role. They sat on the sidelines as typical.
Great that the Carney government helped settle this!
All the promises Carney made back in 2025, including examining a taking action after the AC FAs strike. Notice nothing was done? As typical for the Liberals.
who cares!! You caused so much chaos, you left people to fend for themselves, I will NEVER fly west jet again!!
I see. I understand. Ok. Alright. Yeah. Slndnxkzncmzmsnd)#_-#
Have you realized no one was sympathetic to the company… even though they had flights cancelled they where not happy with WestJet the handling of everything… also transportation does not have to inspect unless they are classified as storage if they are under the 7 day or 3 day inspection they are good to go you have really check if they actually stored any planes …
Government stepping in? Give me a break. Not everything venters around Carney, Ben. Nor should it. Unless of course you WANT a king.
Most likely we just watched a game of chicken that went a little further than either side wanted. I’m glad they sorted it out, but too bad they had to screw up people’s travel.
Sounds like a pretty damn good contrat
Yeah Carney really dropped the ball on this one a good PM would have stepped in before strike action disrupted so many peoples travel plans.
Now WestJest needs to refund everyone on every flight that was cancelled? Not just a few who appliy for. Do the complete manafest, plus plus plus?
Government must step in sooner. Strikes like this cause so much disruption and it should not be permitted to happen. Essential service. Europe wouldn’t stand for this nonsense.
Canadian airlines are the worst.
Great news. Now the flight attendants can be paid for the work they used to do for free. Glad to see implicit pressure from the Carney government helped along negotiations!
I guess these overpaid union slackers realized it’s not a bad job after all. They created all kinds of disruption for passengers flying with Westjet many of whom will fly with another reliable airline in the future. So maybe they get what they want for now but layoffs will come when people book flights with other carriers. Seems counterproductive really.
I supported the fly crews negotiations of being paid for their ground work, no one deserves to work for nothing ..
DO NOT STRIKE PLEASE! STRIKE HURTS EVERYBODY INCLUDING YOU GUYS AND GALS!
Interesting that they reached a resolution within 24 hours of strike action. That makes me think they should not have gone on strike, disrupting the lives of millions of other people but rather stayed at the table as they were close to a deal.
Interesting informations. Slndjdakndnd29734-82