WestJet forges crucial deal with pilots for long haul expansion, but unionisation threat looms large

Canada's second largest airline WestJet has eliminated uncertainty over its widebody expansion as 2016 has come to a close, reaching a deal with its pilots that allows the company to move forward in adding Boeing 767 widebodies to its fleet. The latest agreement follows a rejection of an earlier agreement by Westjet's pilots in Nov-2016, which placed in doubt the company's ability to fully execute its long haul ambitions.

At the same time as pilots rejected the previous offer the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) was amping up efforts to unionise WestJet's pilots. Independent entities have attempted to unionise the airline's pilots in the past, but ALPA's scale and resources offer a different level of heft to a potentially unionised workforce at WestJet.

Although WestJet can now move forward in crystallising its long haul strategy, the threat of unionisation among the company's pilots and flight attendants looms large, and the airline could be a prime target for larger, more powerful unions.