MEC chair, Capt. Mark Taylor, recently attended the ALPA Executive Board meeting at ALPA's headquarters in McLean, VA. The meeting offered valuable insights into the state of the airline industry and the challenges ALPA carriers are facing. Sadly, things are slowing down nearly everywhere, and tariffs and border chaos are certainly affecting the airline business in both the United States and Canada. An ALPA economist took the time to show the massive uncertainty that airlines are facing and there is little we can do but ride out the storm. Many of those new to our industry have not yet seen an industry downturn and ALPA warned that many likely underestimate how painful recessions can be - especially in our industry. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen, but it will be our shared responsibility as union officials and members to ensure we are collectively prepared for the worst.

At the Executive Board meeting, there was also an interesting presentation by the head of the American Air Traffic Controllers union who highlighted the sad state of repair that the system is in. We rely upon these controllers, and they are not being given the resources they need to do their job properly. The events in Washington and the recent radar outages in New York are just part of an aging understaffed system. 

Equally important were the other smaller meetings that happened. ALPA re-affirmed their desire to have Local 270 remain open (in custodianship) to resolve all outstanding grievances. ALPA recognizes that Sunwing has left a large number of unresolved issues open for arbitration and your current MEC and Grievance Committee members will be allowed to see them all through to a fair conclusion. We appreciate ALPA’s understanding and commitment to the process of making sure our members get a resolution to all outstanding disputes.

Now that the airline integration is well underway, Sunwing and WestJet will be turning more attention to resolution of grievances. We have a very high number of arbitration dates booked or planned. Sadly, this is what happens when management no longer needs to maintain an ongoing relationship with the union. Instead of working jointly to find resolutions to recent grievances, management has taken a harder line and that has allowed them to push any possible resolutions past the final day of Sunwing’s operations. Many of these issues will likely require arbitration but sadly arbitrators are booked solid, and some cases will likely not begin until 2027.

Pilots are transitioning over to Westjet fairly well and the training seems to be well organized and well executed. The Westjet MEC and our MEC are working to deal with the outstanding issues as fairly as possible. The WestJet MEC is working to reset relations and build the unity that will be needed for CA3. One little area we can help with that is lanyards. Remember that we are all ALPA now, and now is the time to show WestJet that Sunwing pilots do stand by their union, regardless of which Local they belong to. Please wear your ALPA lanyard and not the corporate ones provided.

The WestJet MEC is looking for more Sunwing pilots to get involved with ALPA committees. Several former Sunwing members have already stepped up and been welcomed into various committees, and the WestJet MEC is eager to bring in more as the rest of us transition. They value the experience we bring and want to use that experience to strengthen the union, and a key goal is to demonstrate unity heading into CA3 negotiations. The volunteer form can be found on the ALPA WJA MEC website. (The link will only work after you’ve reported to WestJet.) If you would like to volunteer, and have not reported to WestJet yet, please let your SWG MEC know.

ALPA Canada is also seeking more volunteers to help with Pilot Assistance, particularly pilots who speak French. If you are willing to get involved, please reach out to one of the MEC members or reach out to ALPA Canada and their Pilot Assistance representatives via the volunteer link above.

We have mediation scheduled with the CIRB to discuss the Unfair Labour Practice filed against WestJet Airlines for their misleading statements and unfair handling of the issue of costs related to the merger. We have received WestJet’s formal reply, and we believe it shows our allegations were correct. The Company simply claims that secret deals that were not disclosed to members or other parties are part of normal labour relations. We vehemently disagree - especially when misleading comments were used to conceal those agreements. The board will attempt to work out a solution on June 10^th, and if no settlement is reached, we will be asking the board to make a formal ruling.

On a few other remaining merge issues, we have not received any serious offers of settlement from Westjet through Arbitrator Gedalof’s attempts to resolve the vacation assignment issue or the pension question. We will likely wait until after the CIRB mediation and then ask Arbitrator Gedalof to issue an order on that as well. The CAAT pension opt out provision is still a topic of discussion although our leverage on this issue isn’t great.

On the topic of pensions, at the latest ALPA Canada Board meeting in St. John’s, ALPA had the results of a study commissioned some time ago that was tasked with looking at the viability of a pension plan for all Canadian pilots. To summarize the study results, the CAAT pension plan is extremely successful, has a funding surplus, and represents the best option for those not at the beginning of their career, and the lowest-risk option for all. The CAAT plan offers indexing to an industrial wage index which means unlike most plans, your payouts will increase over the years.

Another recent issue that has come up is the question of retirement travel benefits at WestJet. All we can say is that at its root, that issue is similar to the question of Years of Service in pay that is being arbitrated, and we believe WestJet may change their view on the issue once the YOS pay arbitration is complete. We cannot grieve this issue since it would be an issue for the WestJet MEC and they can’t grieve it yet since so far there has been no violation. We advise you not to listen too carefully to any rhetoric from WestJet management on this issue since it’s likely all managers have been instructed to tow the line on a reply until the YOS pay issue is resolved. If someone retires from WestJet and does not get recognition of their time at Sunwing for travel benefits, we advise you to file a DART and grieve it then.

Lastly, the Reduction Bid Without Layoffs will be happening soon; likely the first week of June or shortly thereafter. The bid is anticipated to affect Toronto fairly significantly and in general, jobs will be moved to the west. Exact numbers are still not yet available. Sadly, we know that this will be a difficult time for everyone. Remember the ALPA Pilot Assistance committee is there to help. A memo with details will be coming with the bid and we will review and disseminate further information as required. Understanding WestJet’s CA2 Article 7-11 Position Reductions and Displacements Without Layoffs will be critical.

In solidarity,

Your MEC