Inside WestJet’s summer strike meltdown

Its mechanics were officially off the job for only 29 hours. But more than a week after they returned to work, WestJet was still struggling with cancelled flights and stranded passengers.

Travellers impacted by the strike reported almost no customer service, including no efforts by WestJet to rebook them on other airlines, as the company is required to do. On the busiest travel weekend of the summer, and for a week afterwards, Canadians were left up in the air.

Now they’re trying to figure out what they’re owed and if they’ll get it.

Christopher Reynolds is a reporter with The Canadian Press. 

“Airlines aren’t typically equipped to handle a tsunami of hundreds of thousands or scores of thousands of complaints following a cancellation. So, there is a long tail to this strike just in dealing with the customers alone — one that could cost the airline millions of dollars,” said Reynolds.

How did such a short strike cause so much havoc? What was WestJet required to do in this situation and did they do it? Will passengers ever see the compensation they’re due? And why is air travel in this country still so fraught with error?

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