What’s up with Westjet

[imjustlurking]

Westjet is nothing but a holding company now that has no employees with the exception of flight crews and how long before they contract out those jobs ?

The moment they sell Encore is the moment I will believe your anecdote.

[fish4life]

Without knowing their contract I’d imagine they have scope provisions that wouldn’t allow that, if they don’t then the contract is worthless.

[Bug_Stomper_01]

Westjet terminated their ground staff in YYC and contracted out their jobs to the lowest bidder who pays minimum wages with no benefits.The new company is called ATS and they are having major issues hiring and retaining current staff,They payed out over $100,000 in cash to retain the few employees that remain with the company.Westjet is nothing but a holding company now that has no employees with the exception of flight crews and how long before they contract out those jobs ?

I had no idea that WestJet had contracted out their ground crew in YYC. Was that recently? I knew a couple guys that worked there before going into maintenance/dispatch/flying roles and they said they were treated great. Westjet stockpiled their crew room with snacks/food/drinks and there were always extra clothes/gloves provided by the company. It was an overall healthy work environment from what I understand although that was 10 years ago. Shame they got rid of them, I doubt ATS will ever be able to exceed previous work conditions and morale that existed back then

Is that absolutely correct? Is that published anywhere? If this is true it does not bode well for the future of Westjet

[imjustlurking]

Without knowing their contract I’d imagine they have scope provisions that wouldn’t allow that, if they don’t then the contract is worthless.

Subject to the application of the Canada Labour Code, any other statute or applicable law, this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect in the event that the Company changes ownership acquires another airline, is sold to another airline or merges with another airline.

In the event that the Company sells, leases, transfers or otherwise divests itself of its business as defined under the Successor Rights and Obligations provisions of the Canada Labour Code, the Company shall not oppose any application by the Association to secure and/or protect bargaining rights and successor rights for any Pilots affected by the sale, lease, transfer or divestiture.

[Hangry]

Bobby Axelrod bought an airline. Wags and Dollarbill are making the decisions. Did anyone actually expect anything different??

[ACYYC]

Westjet terminated their ground staff in YYC and contracted out their jobs to the lowest bidder who pays minimum wages with no benefits.The new company is called ATS and they are having major issues hiring and retaining current staff,They payed out over $100,000 in cash to retain the few employees that remain with the company.Westjet is nothing but a holding company now that has no employees with the exception of flight crews and how long before they contract out those jobs ?

I had no idea that WestJet had contracted out their ground crew in YYC. Was that recently? I knew a couple guys that worked there before going into maintenance/dispatch/flying roles and they said they were treated great. Westjet stockpiled their crew room with snacks/food/drinks and there were always extra clothes/gloves provided by the company. It was an overall healthy work environment from what I understand although that was 10 years ago. Shame they got rid of them, I doubt ATS will ever be able to exceed previous work conditions and morale that existed back then

Is that absolutely correct? Is that published anywhere? If this is true it does not bode well for the future of Westjet

Yes that's absolutely correct. ATS took over in late 2020 if I recall correctly. I think October or November 2020.

Last summer ATS was so desperate they were giving cash bonuses of up to $250 per shift for anyone who picked up an extra shift on days off. That lasted a few months. Now those bonuses are gone and the winter weather is here they've lost a lot of staff.

It's bad in YYC. WS arrivals always waiting forever to be parked, flights leaving with no bags, etc etc etc. The costs must be way higher from this mess than whatever pennies they saved by outsourcing their ramp at their biggest hub. Penny wise, pound foolish.

[newlygrounded]

Without knowing their contract I’d imagine they have scope provisions that wouldn’t allow that, if they don’t then the contract is worthless.

The same scrope that said swoop can only have X number of planes, and they won't fly from yyz?

[Meatservo]

Without knowing their contract I’d imagine they have scope provisions that wouldn’t allow that, if they don’t then the contract is worthless.

The same scrope that said swoop can only have X number of planes, and they won't fly from yyz?

Did you say "scrope" on purpose? If so, that's an excellent new word, and we need to get working immediately to define it!

"Don't worry, scro! Plenty of 'tards live totally kick-ass lives! My sister's a 'tard. She's a pilot now."

[rigpiggy]

Westjet where 3 hrs late is the new on time performance goal. Last three flights into yyc were a minimum 1 he wait for the bags, one was 1+40. I avoid them now

[CpnCrunch]

Conversation with Westjet rewards on the phone just now about a missing companion voucher.

Me: I sent an email 10 days ago and got an acknowledgement, but haven't received any reply.
Westjet: Our email is really backed up now. We have 30,000 emails waiting. You're not going to get a reply to email any time soon.

(She did begin to resolve the problem on the phone...or at least, she escalated it to someone who can actually look into it, which is a start).

Their twitter and facebook support seems to be in a similar situation right now...I've sent messages to them and not heard anything back a week later. The only way to contact them right now is to either schedule a callback, or possibly wait for hours on hold if you can be bothered. Luckily their phone system isn't quite as backlogged as it was at the start of the month...you can schedule the callback 1 day ahead now, rather than having to do it 5 days ahead.