Description: It’s probably not the news you wanted to hear as you wind down the winter term at university and get ready to travel back home for the summer break: WestJet’s pilots’ union is set for a strike vote. Bernard Lewall, a union representative, is frustrated by the results of the last six months of negotiations, noting that “WestJet used to be a place where young pilots wanted to come and work. That’s not the case anymore.” It is not clear exactly when a strike could begin, but the plus for students is that it appears there may be no interruption of travel until around the long weekend in May.

Date:  March 31, 2023

Source:  cbc.ca

 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/westjet-pilot-union-alberta-1.6797805

Discussion points:

1) What are your end-of-term travel plans?

2) Have you ever had your travel plans affected by a strike?

3) On page 9-1 of Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making we see a vignette that discusses WestJet’s launch of a discount carrier known as Swoop, something that is also mentioned in the accompanying article. What are the strengths and the weaknesses of starting up Swoop while also running a regular airline carrier like WestJet?