What to do if your WestJet flight is hit by a strike

Fresh labour tensions at WestJet have put thousands of summer trips in doubt, leaving passengers scrambling to understand what happens if their flight is cancelled or delayed by a strike or lockout.

How strikes and lockouts affect WestJet operations

WestJet has faced several rounds of labour turbulence in recent years, including a high-profile mechanics strike around the Canada Day long weekend in 2024 that led to more than a thousand cancelled flights. Publicly available information from that episode shows how quickly schedules can unravel when talks between the airline and unions break down. Aircraft are pulled from service, staffing levels change and large portions of the network can be thinned out in a matter of hours.

In most cases, passengers do not receive long lead times. When a union files a strike notice or the company issues a lockout notice, negotiations often continue until the last possible moment. Reports from previous disputes indicate that WestJet has both cancelled flights in anticipation of a walkout and, at other times, kept operating while talks continued, leaving travellers unsure whether to rebook or to head to the airport as planned.

Canadian air passenger rules treat labour disruptions inside an airline or at an essential service provider as situations outside the carrier’s control. That definition has important consequences for what WestJet must offer when a flight is cancelled or heavily delayed. It also helps explain why some travellers caught up in past disruptions reported difficulty obtaining reimbursement for extra costs such as hotel stays or tickets purchased on other airlines.

Even when a strike ends, disruption can linger for days. After the 2024 mechanics action, news coverage described a slow restart as aircraft and crews were repositioned and stranded passengers were gradually rebooked. Travellers whose flights fall shortly after a labour dispute officially ends may still encounter cancellations or long delays as the carrier clears the backlog.

Your basic options under Canada’s passenger rules

Under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, airlines must provide a choice between a refund and rebooking when a flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, regardless of the cause. For labour disruptions, regulators classify the event as outside the airline’s control, which affects compensation levels but not the core requirement to offer passengers a way to either travel later or get their money back.

Publicly available guidance indicates that if WestJet cancels a flight because of a strike or lockout, passengers are entitled to be rebooked on the next available flight operated by WestJet or one of its commercial partners, at no additional cost. If the airline cannot complete the journey within a set period, the rules call for a refund for the unused portion of the ticket for travellers who no longer wish to travel.

Cash compensation for inconvenience, such as fixed per-passenger payments for delays, generally does not apply when the cause is outside the carrier’s control. That distinction has been at the centre of legal disputes involving WestJet and passenger advocacy groups, which argue that travellers should receive stronger protections when labour relations break down. Court filings and regulatory complaints stemming from the 2023 and 2024 disruptions show that the question of how far airlines must go in these scenarios remains contested.

What remains clear in the current framework is that WestJet must, at minimum, give affected travellers a choice between getting to their destination on a later flight or receiving a refund. Additional expenses such as meals, hotels or flights on other carriers may be treated as discretionary or case by case, rather than as guaranteed entitlements when a strike or lockout is deemed beyond the airline’s control.

Steps to take as soon as disruption is announced

Once WestJet publicly acknowledges that a strike or lockout will affect operations, time becomes critical. Past disruptions show that rebooking options are most plentiful in the early hours, before alternative flights fill up. Travellers who move quickly to secure new itineraries generally report better outcomes than those who wait for the situation to clarify.

The first step is to confirm the status of your specific flight using the airline’s official channels and any notifications from your booking platform or travel agent. During earlier WestJet labour actions, some flights operated as scheduled while others were cancelled in clusters, often concentrated at certain hubs or on specific days. A broad news headline about disruption does not necessarily mean your individual flight will be cut.

If your flight is cancelled or subject to a lengthy delay, Canadian rules give you the right to request rebooking or a refund. Reports from previous strikes suggest that phone lines and live chat channels can quickly become overwhelmed. Many passengers have found it faster to use the airline’s online self-service tools to request changes, then follow up later if needed. Screenshots or records of any messages from WestJet about the cause of the disruption can be useful if you later need to file a claim.

Travellers with onward connections, cruises or tours should also contact those providers as soon as a disruption appears likely. While WestJet’s obligations focus on the air ticket itself, other parts of a trip may have strict change or cancellation deadlines. Documentation showing that a missed departure was caused by a strike or lockout may help when negotiating with hotels, tour companies or insurers.

When WestJet must book you on another airline

One of the most contested issues during recent WestJet labour disruptions has been when, and how often, the carrier must rebook passengers on competing airlines. According to publicly available interpretations of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, for situations outside an airline’s control, carriers must first try to place travellers on their own flights or those of commercial partners within a defined window. If they cannot do so, they are expected to look at options on other airlines.

In practice, passengers affected by the 2024 mechanics strike and other disputes have reported mixed experiences. Some said they were rebooked on other Canadian or international carriers at no extra charge, while others described being told that such options were unavailable until WestJet had fully cancelled a flight or exhausted its own alternatives. The gap between the regulatory language and how it is applied at the call-centre level has been a recurring source of frustration.

Documentation can make a difference. If you believe WestJet is not offering a reasonable alternative within the time frames set out by the regulations, keeping records of conversations, emails and flight availability may help if you later bring a complaint to the airline, to the Canadian Transportation Agency or to a dispute resolution body. Advocacy groups point to past cases where passengers eventually obtained reimbursement or additional support after showing that viable seats on other carriers existed when they first requested help.

Travel advisers note that inventory during a large-scale disruption can be extremely tight, especially around holiday weekends. Even where rules require carriers to consider other airlines, there may simply be few or no seats left on competing services. That reality makes early action especially important when a strike or lockout threatens a busy travel period.

How travel insurance and payment protections can help

For travellers caught in labour turmoil, outside protections can sometimes fill gaps left by Canada’s passenger rules. Many comprehensive travel insurance policies include coverage for trip interruption or cancellation caused by strikes, although terms vary widely. Some policies require that the insurance be purchased a certain number of days before a strike is announced, while others may exclude labour disputes entirely.

Consumer advocates advise checking policy documents before travel, paying close attention to sections that address labour actions, missed connections and extra accommodation costs. If coverage applies, insurers may reimburse nonrefundable hotel nights, prepaid tours or replacement air tickets when a WestJet strike or lockout prevents you from reaching your destination on time. Claims departments typically request proof of the original disruption, such as airline notifications and receipts for any new bookings.

Credit card benefits can provide another layer of protection. Premium cards often offer built-in trip cancellation or interruption coverage when tickets are purchased with the card. Publicly available benefit guides show that many of these programs list strikes as a covered event, subject to specific conditions and maximum payouts. As with standalone insurance, early communication, detailed records and clear documentation of expenses are essential for a smooth claims process.

Ultimately, passengers facing a disrupted WestJet flight during a strike or lockout must navigate a combination of airline obligations, regulatory rules and third-party protections. Understanding how these pieces fit together before labour tensions escalate can make the difference between an expensive scramble and a managed detour.