WestJet Strike: Agreement in Principle, Flights Resume
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WestJet and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 4,400 flight attendants, reached an agreement in principle on Monday, August 3, 2026, following a strike that began early Sunday morning. Both notices, the strike notice and the lockout notice, have been withdrawn. Flights began taking off again in the afternoon on August 3.
Where do your flights stand right now?
Flights began resuming slowly in the afternoon on August 3, 2026, with no date announced for a full return to normal operations. An airline network doesn’t restart all at once: after a shutdown, aircraft and crews are scattered far from their bases, and it takes several days to reposition everything.
Concretely, expect residual cancellations and delays over the coming days, even though the strike has been resolved.
- Check your flight status before heading to the airport, in the « Manage Trips » section of your WestJet account or on the official WestJet travel advisories page.
- Check your contact information in your booking, email and cell phone, to receive disruption alerts without delay.
- If you have already been rebooked on another carrier during the work stoppage, keep that ticket rather than returning to WestJet, and keep all your supporting documents.
- If your trip is a package (WestJet Vacations, Sunwing Vacations, WestJet Vacations Quebec), go through your tour operator and not through WestJet.
Your flight was cancelled: what are you entitled to?
The Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) give you two firm rights when WestJet cancels your flight, regardless of the cause of the cancellation. This is the point that the greatest number of travelers are unaware of, and it’s worth money.
- Free rebooking on the next available flight, with WestJet or a partner carrier, within 48 hours of the cancellation.
- Or, if no solution suits you, a full refund to your original method of payment within 30 days.
For an international segment deemed attributable to the carrier, WestJet must also cover reasonable expenses related to the delay: meals, ground transportation, accommodation, and telecommunications. Keep your receipts.
An important nuance on monetary compensation, beyond refunds and rebooking. A strike governed by collective bargaining is generally classified by the Canadian Transportation Agency as an event outside the carrier’s control, which usually exempts the carrier from paying additional monetary compensation. This is what largely occurred during the Air Canada flight attendants’ strike in 2025. This point continues to be contested.
Good precedent to know: in 2025, Air Canada ended up voluntarily offering to cover certain additional expenses of its passengers, beyond its strict legal obligations. There is no guarantee that WestJet will do the same, but it’s worth filing a documented claim rather than assuming a refusal.
What does the agreement in principle contain?
The agreement provides for a wage increase of 13% starting in October, followed by increases of 2.5% per year for three years, until 2029, as well as a bonus equivalent to 12% of salary. CUPE indicates that if the agreement is ratified, work performed before takeoff will be recognized, which was at the heart of the dispute.
Nothing is final yet. The agreement must be submitted to a ratification vote by the flight attendants, who have 30 days to approve it. In its statement, WestJet President and CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said he was pleased to have reached an agreement in principle that reflects « the hard work and professionalism » of its crews.
How the dispute led to the strike
Negotiations had been ongoing since January 2026. Here are the six dates that led to the work stoppage and its resolution.
- July 15, 2026: flight attendants vote 99.4% in favor of a strike mandate, with a participation rate of 97.3%.
- July 23, 2026: WestJet reports that 38 articles of the collective agreement have been agreed to in principle, versus 29 still under discussion.
- July 30, 2026: the union files a 72-hour strike notice, WestJet responds with a lockout notice.
- July 31 and August 1, 2026: WestJet begins an orderly shutdown of its operations and starts grounding its aircraft, resulting in hundreds of cancellations even before the strike begins.
- August 2, 2026: with no agreement, flight attendants walk off the job early Sunday morning, during the long civic holiday weekend.
- August 3, 2026: agreement in principle reached in Calgary, both notices withdrawn, gradual resumption of flights in the afternoon.
The crux of the dispute centered on compensation for work performed on the ground: boarding, safety checks, delay management. CUPE estimated that the average flight attendant performed approximately 35 hours per month of unpaid work. The comparison that kept coming up at the table: Air Canada flight attendants obtained in 2025, after their own strike, compensation for ground work rising from 50% of the hourly rate in the first year to 70% in the last year of the contract.
Further Information
Two precedents at Air Canada help clarify your rights in the event of a work stoppage at a Canadian air carrier: our article on the Air Canada flight attendants’ strike and the one on the Air Canada pilots’ strike, both covering compensation and travel insurance in detail. For a reminder of how the loyalty program works since its conversion to points, see our guide to WestJet Rewards: the program has not been affected by this labour dispute.
Subscribe to our newsletter to learn the result of the ratification vote and follow-up on this file.
WestJet Strike – Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. WestJet and CUPE reached an agreement in principle on August 3, 2026, and both notices, the strike notice and the lockout notice, have been withdrawn. Flight attendants are returning to work and flights began taking off again in the afternoon on August 3.
Not immediately. WestJet has not announced a date for a full return to normal operations and is talking about a gradual resumption. After a shutdown, aircraft and crews are scattered far from their bases, which causes residual cancellations and delays for several days. Check your flight status before each trip to the airport.
You are entitled to free rebooking on the next available flight within 48 hours, with WestJet or a partner carrier, or a full refund within 30 days if no solution suits you. On an international segment attributable to the carrier, WestJet must also cover your reasonable expenses for meals, accommodation, ground transportation, and telecommunications.
It’s less likely. A strike governed by collective bargaining is generally considered by the Canadian Transportation Agency as an event outside the carrier’s control, which usually exempts the carrier from paying additional monetary compensation. This point remains contested, and filing a documented claim is still preferable to assuming a refusal.
No, not yet. The agreement in principle must be submitted to a ratification vote by the 4,400 flight attendants, who have 30 days to approve it. It provides for a wage increase of 13% starting in October, then 2.5% per year for three years until 2029, as well as a bonus equivalent to 12% of salary.
No, the loyalty program has not been affected by this labour dispute. See our WestJet Rewards guide for a complete reminder of how the program works.
It depends on the date of purchase. A policy in effect before July 15, 2026, the date the dispute became public, could cover a cancellation related to this dispute. A policy purchased after this date will generally exclude this specific reason, although it remains useful for any other unforeseen events such as illness, injury, or family emergency.
