Prince George Airport Authority President and CEO Gord Duke is closely monitoring contract negotiations involving WestJet Encore Pilots.
On Tuesday, the Airline Pilots Association announced WestJet Encore pilots voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action if a new deal isn’t hammered out in the next two weeks (April 17th).
Duke told Vista Radio the Encore feeder network is responsible for much of the flights that come in and out of our airport.
“They provide quite a bit of the capacity to Vancouver and they have the direct flight to Calgary. Certainly, any disruption of service would have an impact on the folks here in Prince George and the region that use our airport.”
“We are hopeful that they are able to come to an agreement before it comes to a strike situation but we are monitoring that fairly closely.”
He adds contingency plans are in place if a strike does occur – airline partners such as Pacific Coastal, Central Mountain Air and Air Canada may add capacity into this market if an extended work stoppage occurs.
“That connectivity that we are able to provide to the major hubs like Vancouver and Calgary allows people here to get all over the world in one or two stops. For sure, it’s an impact and I know that WestJet will be working on contingency plans to get more utilization out of their mainline aircraft, the 737’s that they operate,”
Duke noted these types of strike votes are anything but uncommon when holding out for better wages and other perks that come with being a pilot.
“Some of this is gamesmanship as you go through a negotiation process and the union is going to want their members to give a strong strike mandate to help them at the negotiating table. I hope we don’t end up in this situation, however, when you are taking that level of seats out of the market, it does impact the people in the smaller regional and remote airports.”
WestJet issued the following statement regarding the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) announcement of the results of the strike authorization vote to WestJet Encore pilots.
“A strike authorization vote is a common step by unions in context of the overall labour negotiation process and does not mean a strike will occur,” said Diederik Pen, President of WestJet Airlines and Group Chief Operating Officer.
“We are steadfast in our commitment to reach an agreement with ALPA that addresses the unique concerns of our Encore pilots, is competitive within Canada’s airline industry and ensures we have a long-term sustainable future so that we can continue to operate critical air service for millions of Canadians, while providing meaningful employment for thousands at the WestJet Group.”
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