"Different is in our DNA. We are creators, dreamers and doers who are disrupting the air-travel landscape by making travel affordable, easy and accessible to everyone. We are growing fast and swooping up talented and amazing individuals to join in our mission" – SWOOP webpage Dec 2020

All flights lead to SWOOP

The aggressive marketing and expansion of Swoop airlines today seems a lot like 1996. We saw WestJet airlines' aggressive launch into the Canadian marketplace to challenge the status quo as a low-cost carrier. The formula SWOOP is using today appears similar to the blueprint used to establish WestJet. However, the big difference seems to be the lack of any value now placed on the employees.

A quick google search for SWOOP jobs in YYC will show dozens of job posting ranging from call centre jobs, crew schedulers, flight operations and more. Onex WestJet has not offered any employees who have been fired by outsourcing and call centre closures the opportunity to transfer to these jobs.

It would seem that ONEX WestJet has big plans for SWOOP airline expansion.

Just last month, Onex WestJet and Delta airlines have withdrawn their application for a transborder joint venture in the works for years. One of the biggest reasons, the requirement from the U.S. Transportation Department to remove Swoop from the alliance.

In a recent Twitter post, a customer asked SWOOP about expansion to YYC, and the response was "never say never, we are always expanding our routes.'

On December 7, 2020, we saw a SWOOP aircraft visit YYC, could this become a more regular occurrence? In October, SWOOP expanded into the Toronto market, taking over routes previously done by WestJet. This expansion has been a contentious issue that saw WestJet airline pilots take to the streets in protest.

Not only is this SWOOP expansion a threat to more job loss for WestJet airports workers, but it severely reduces the selection of travel routes for WestJetters with flight passes. A key benefit in AEA negotiations with Onex as they severed thousands of workers.

ULCCs are not new to the industry. We at Unifor watched as Air Canada launched AC Rouge. Air Canada airport agents didn't need to watch as their "jobs moved down the counter" to lower-paid ground handling companies because they had a collective agreement.

The Unifor-Air Canada collective agreement provided language that specifically dealt with the outsourcing of jobs. The result was that although Air Canada has a ULCC, the airport agent role and call centre work is still provided by Unifor members working at Air Canada.

As members of Unifor, WestJet workers would have the ability to bargain similar language in a collective agreement.

If you have any questions about what a Unifor contract can do for you in such difficult times, or anything else, please reach out to one of your organizers.

Billy O'Neill, Unifor
[email protected] | 416-605-1443

Quebec
Ada Zampini, Unifor
[email protected] | 514-701-6227

Prairies
Bruce Fafard, Unifor
[email protected] | 587-341-0945

British Columbia
Simon Lau, Unifor
[email protected] | 778-928-9630

Atlantic
Patrick Murray, Unifor
[email protected] | 506-850-7996