(Reuters) – Canada’s WestJet Airlines has started canceling flights again after a union representing its maintenance technicians rejected a new pay offer and filed a second strike notice, the airline said on Wednesday.
WestJet said this action would lead to an estimated 25 flight cancellations from June 27-28 and impact more than 3,300 travelers. The airline had said earlier in the day that the work stoppage could take place as early as June 28.
It is not clear how long the strike could last.
WestJet, which is backed by Onex Corp and competes with Air Canada, is facing demands from workers for better working conditions and higher salaries.
WestJet said it had offered the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) a “leading agreement in the Canadian industry” that was better than the previous deal rejected by the union earlier in the day.
The rejected offer would have given the aircraft maintenance engineers a 22% pay increase in four years.
AMFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It is especially devastating that the strike notice we received from AMFA forces us to cancel flights and park aircraft for the second time in just over a week,” said Diederik Pen, president of WestJet Airlines and chief operating officer of the group.
The Calgary-based airline canceled 40 flights affecting 6,500 customers last week after the union sent it a warning of a 72-hour strike. The union withdrew the strike notice on June 20 and agreed to resume talks.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Sonia Cheema)
