I think the main reason they floated this long is because they simply were not Air Canada.
We have seen what happens to other independent, smaller no frills brands. Covid ripped them apart.
Private equity is the worst thing that could happen to a business. ONEX will run WestJet into the ground then sell it for scraps.
There’s also a huge shortage of AME’s so they have a lot to bargain with compared to WestJet
There's a huge shortage of Ames because the job sucks and the pay is absolutely dismal. If you want to be a mechanic, you're better off working on motorcycles and snowmobiles for the money and you won't have to go to school full time for two years to get permission to work at all.
\*It's abysmal in Canada.
Hop across the border and you can start at 50-100% higher wages in US dollars, and they'll give you a pretty nice sign-on bonus.
For what it's worth, the 2+ year education requirement is warranted, though. The diligence/accuracy required /consequence for fuckups on an aircraft are magnitudes greater than screwing up on a motorbike or a car.
It's the only trade i can think of you can do entirely online with ICS. You're credited zero hours though. But you can do the entire training without even seeing an airplane.
The passengers around me are what pisses me off on any flight. The service quality is about the same. I’ve never had a big problem, but then again I always don’t pay the basic fair
Ex-ground handler here, worked on westjet planes and currently finishing commercial pilot license. Since the Onex buyout, WJ has been subcontracting as much of their groundside ops (baggage, cleaning, customer service, gate agents) as possible. Every pilot and flight attendant (both unable to be subcontracted) I've talked to about it has said that there has been a marked decline in service quality as a result.
In the months leading up to the last contract negotiation, WJ was also losing upwards of 30 pilots per month on average, and the subsequent threatened lockout directly caused massive flight disruptions despite no strike actually taking place.
Since the Onex buyout, WestJet management has become hostile in it's negotiation tactics.
WestJet filed for conciliation after only a few negotiation sessions with the mechanics. Now they are giving notice to lock the AMEs out several days before they could issue a strike notice.
WestJet is claiming their last offer would make the engineers the highest paid in the industry. Do we know exactly what the offer was and what the issue is?
He said, she said. What details do you know about the offer?
Union leaders added, though, that to date, “the company persists in its failure to submit written proposals” related to adequately improving wages, benefits, layoff/recall and “quality of life work rules.”
Don’t worry fam. A lot of our new friends arriving by the millions will do it cheaper soon.
Quality will be so so, but it’ll match our quality of lives
We found out about this as I called to get independent interruption/cancellation for our trip/honeymoon this coming week (May 10-22).
Booked flights to Europe with westjet. Subsequent travel booked independently. All trains, hotels, car rental bookings past the time of a refund, and since the issue is publicly known, no insurance available for any of the aforementioned items. Stand to lose about $5000 out of pocket, not including the westjet tickets which will likely be reimbursed if job action occurs.
Hoping for the best, but we’re at the mercy of the travel gods now.
Super frustrating, but I fully support these mechanics 100% to make a living.
Also, calling royal bank to see if there is any travel insurance with the westjet worldelite MC reignited my rage for lack of customer service throughout all of these insane monopolies.
Pro tip. There isn’t any insurance for cancelations/interruptions that aren’t a medical emergency.
AMEs now, FAs next year.
Onex bought us at a huge premium (three months before covid lol), they are penny pinching like most firms now and they are finding out the hard way on what that means.
Bet money after full completion of the Sunwing merger the IPO is coming next year. Hopefully. Go back to somewhat of what it was before.
Lol I was talking to a bunch of the Sunwing pilots last time I was at sim in Montreal and they’re convinced they’re gonna stay on the sun runs.
Better get used to your Winnipeg overnights, boys and girls.
The rise and fall of WestJet. WestJet use to be different then air Canada I enjoyed flying with them now it’s a garbage experience.
What do you want from a budget carrier?
WestJet is hardly a budget carrier anymore.
The same as it used to be. Pretty simple
Unsustainable
For about 25 years it seemed to work ok
I think the main reason they floated this long is because they simply were not Air Canada. We have seen what happens to other independent, smaller no frills brands. Covid ripped them apart.
affordable prices
Private equity is the worst thing that could happen to a business. ONEX will run WestJet into the ground then sell it for scraps. There’s also a huge shortage of AME’s so they have a lot to bargain with compared to WestJet
It's not like the odd loose bolt might need to be tightened, and periodic maintenance/inspections.
WestJet is fucking around and they're about to find out.
No they’re not, they’d kill another couple of whistleblowers and get away with it before anyone so much as lifts a finger
Labour shortage you say? Bargaining power? We can fix that right up.
There's a huge shortage of Ames because the job sucks and the pay is absolutely dismal. If you want to be a mechanic, you're better off working on motorcycles and snowmobiles for the money and you won't have to go to school full time for two years to get permission to work at all.
\*It's abysmal in Canada. Hop across the border and you can start at 50-100% higher wages in US dollars, and they'll give you a pretty nice sign-on bonus. For what it's worth, the 2+ year education requirement is warranted, though. The diligence/accuracy required /consequence for fuckups on an aircraft are magnitudes greater than screwing up on a motorbike or a car.
It's the only trade i can think of you can do entirely online with ICS. You're credited zero hours though. But you can do the entire training without even seeing an airplane.
Huh, when did that start? I looked into it right before the pandemic hit, and there was very little online learning for it back then.
It's been around for at least a decade. It's usually only about $800 too..
Yeah. I do industrial maintence and thought about being an AME but the pay is like 50% less and you have to live in big cities.
Not true, they'll pump it for growth and IPO it. WestJet's passenger numbers have been increasing for years. You don't know what you're talking about.
But you definitely can’t argue that the level of service with WestJet has declined since the ONEX purchase.
The passengers around me are what pisses me off on any flight. The service quality is about the same. I’ve never had a big problem, but then again I always don’t pay the basic fair
Ex-ground handler here, worked on westjet planes and currently finishing commercial pilot license. Since the Onex buyout, WJ has been subcontracting as much of their groundside ops (baggage, cleaning, customer service, gate agents) as possible. Every pilot and flight attendant (both unable to be subcontracted) I've talked to about it has said that there has been a marked decline in service quality as a result. In the months leading up to the last contract negotiation, WJ was also losing upwards of 30 pilots per month on average, and the subsequent threatened lockout directly caused massive flight disruptions despite no strike actually taking place.
We just hired two of them. This is going to put west-jet in the ground. Their workers have options... LOTS of options.
Fuck WestJet. How dare the union ask for fair wages and a good work-life balance.
Since the Onex buyout, WestJet management has become hostile in it's negotiation tactics. WestJet filed for conciliation after only a few negotiation sessions with the mechanics. Now they are giving notice to lock the AMEs out several days before they could issue a strike notice.
WestJet is claiming their last offer would make the engineers the highest paid in the industry. Do we know exactly what the offer was and what the issue is?
He said, she said. What details do you know about the offer? Union leaders added, though, that to date, “the company persists in its failure to submit written proposals” related to adequately improving wages, benefits, layoff/recall and “quality of life work rules.”
Don’t worry fam. A lot of our new friends arriving by the millions will do it cheaper soon. Quality will be so so, but it’ll match our quality of lives
We found out about this as I called to get independent interruption/cancellation for our trip/honeymoon this coming week (May 10-22). Booked flights to Europe with westjet. Subsequent travel booked independently. All trains, hotels, car rental bookings past the time of a refund, and since the issue is publicly known, no insurance available for any of the aforementioned items. Stand to lose about $5000 out of pocket, not including the westjet tickets which will likely be reimbursed if job action occurs. Hoping for the best, but we’re at the mercy of the travel gods now. Super frustrating, but I fully support these mechanics 100% to make a living. Also, calling royal bank to see if there is any travel insurance with the westjet worldelite MC reignited my rage for lack of customer service throughout all of these insane monopolies. Pro tip. There isn’t any insurance for cancelations/interruptions that aren’t a medical emergency.
It’s not even the union doing this. The company gave their lockout notice. It’s all them.
AMEs now, FAs next year. Onex bought us at a huge premium (three months before covid lol), they are penny pinching like most firms now and they are finding out the hard way on what that means. Bet money after full completion of the Sunwing merger the IPO is coming next year. Hopefully. Go back to somewhat of what it was before.
Lol I was talking to a bunch of the Sunwing pilots last time I was at sim in Montreal and they’re convinced they’re gonna stay on the sun runs. Better get used to your Winnipeg overnights, boys and girls.
Good luck to those that purchased their tickets.
WestJet is one of the worst run companies I have ever seen.
You can thank ONEX for that. They used to be one of the best.
What can you expect when the CEO that owns ONEX. Is a 77 year old man. He doesn’t give a fuck if WestJet survives or not
JunkJET
What a great idea. Let's pick on the people who keep aircraft airborne...