WestJet Strike: Agreement in Principle, Flights Resume

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 Both notices, the strike notice and the lockout notice, have been withdrawn.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.

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.

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.

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.

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WestJet Strike – Frequently Asked Questions