WestJet’s aggressive pursuit of travellers in the competitive ultra-low-cost air travel market -while simultaneously chasing business-class customers for the first time - is attracting some unwanted attention.

Its main competitor is suing, alleging WestJet hacked into a confidential website to steal sensitive information. Meanwhile, the federal Competition Bureau is investigating whether WestJet used anti-competitive practices to crowd Flair out of smaller markets such as Saskatoon, Thunder Bay and Kamloops. 

Mark Morabito, executive chairman of Canada Jetlines, is cheering on the Competition Bureau probe, saying “the airline industry in Canada is on the brink of change” as low-cost carriers enter the market.

He’s right, of course. WestJet workers see this change every day as more and more flights move down the counter to Swoop and as the company pushes workers harder with new duties and schedules that give little thought to the life you live outside the airport.

This is exactly the time when workers need a voice in the company and their industry. Managers cannot be counted on to take your needs and desires into account as they adjust to the evolving market in Canada, and as WestJet fundamentally changes its business model. 

More and more it seems, the WestJet we all know is being squeezed out on both sides by low-cost Swoop and the pursuit of high-end clients and international routes.

Already, flight attendants, pilots and dispatchers have unionized and gained a voice in the workplace as WestJet changes.

There is no reason for airport frontline workers to be the only WestJet workers without a voice. To sign a union card or to ask any question you might have, please contact one of your Organizers.