WestJet Cancels 100-Plus Flights as Pilot Strike Looms and Customers Scramble

Members of the Air Line Pilots Association demonstrate amid contract negotiations outside the WestJet headquarters in Calgary, Alta., Mar. 31, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

WestJet cancelled more than 100 flights on Thursday after talks with the pilots’ union hit a “critical impasse,” throwing travel plans into turmoil for thousands of passengers ahead of the May long weekend.

Some 1,800 pilots at the carrier and its Swoop subsidiary are poised to walk off the job as of 3 a.m. MT after the Air Line Pilots Association served a strike notice Monday.