International flights, including Dublin rotations, are returning to normal after WestJet flight attendants’ strike officially ended after the airline and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) reached a tentative agreement.
All picketing has stopped, and cabin crew are returning to work while the deal awaits a formal ratification vote. However, severe travel disruptions continue as WestJet works to restore its network.
Operations are in a “recovery phase”. WestJet warns that it will take several days to clear passenger backlogs and return to a completely normal schedule. Over 900 flights were cancelled between 1 August and 5 August. This grounded roughly 39pc of WestJet’s mainline schedule and stranded over 250,000 travellers during the busy August long weekend. Ten flights to and from Dublin were affected.
The strike primarily grounded WestJet’s 737 and 787 fleets. Regional feeder flights via WestJet Encore remained unaffected throughout the dispute. The brief strike centered heavily around unpaid ground duties. CUPE Local 8125, which represents 4,400 flight attendants, argued that members performed roughly 35 hours of unpaid work per month during boarding, safety checks, and ground delays. They successfully fought to shift away from the traditional model where cabin crews are only paid when the aircraft is in motion.
While the final text of the agreement is currently being kept private until union members view it, WestJet’s final public offer prior to the deal included a 13pc wage increase retroactive to 1 January 2026, followed by 2.5pc annual increases through 2029, a new “duty pay premium” designed to resolve ground pay grievances, effectively adding an estimated 12pc value to overall salary structures.
Customers currently scheduled to fly with WestJet must verify your itinerary on the WestJet Flight Status Tracker before leaving for the airport. Under Canadian Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), if the flight was cancelled due to the labor disruption, WestJet is required to rebook you on the next available flight (including on competitor airlines if necessary) or issue a refund. WestJet has also extended its flexible change and cancellation policy windows to accommodate affected passengers.
