WestJet flight attendants went on strike early Sunday morning, August 2, 2026, after unsuccessful negotiations between the airline and the union. The airline began winding down operations on Friday, July 31, leading to hundreds of cancellations ahead of the strike. Approximately 250,000 passengers were affected by these disruptions across Canada and international routes.
Passenger Experiences of Cancellations and Customer Service Delays
The Phenix family from Okotoks, Alberta, who had booked flights to Barcelona, faced multiple cancellations starting Tuesday before the strike. After WestJet cancelled their initial flight, the family rebooked a flight for Saturday at extra cost, only to have it cancelled again, forcing them to spend 19
hours in total on hold with WestJet customer service across two calls lasting 6.5 and 12.5 hours. Ashton Phenix described the ordeal as “three days of holding and lost vacation, lost bookings,” emphasizing the frustration of relying on customer service as their only contact channel.
Mike Phenix highlighted that WestJet customer service initially tried to rebook their return on a WestJet flight scheduled hours before the strike, which was almost certain to be cancelled. He said this illustrated the airline’s minimal concern beyond meeting the 48-hour rebooking requirement mandated by law.
Stranded Passengers at Airports and Failed Rebooking Attempts
Iman Abdelkhalek was stranded at Toronto Pearson International Airport
with her six-month-old son after her WestJet flight to Nashville was cancelled hours before departure. Unable to get through to customer service by phone, she sought assistance at the airport, but staff could not provide a rebooking. Abdelkhalek described feeling stranded with no clear information and no one to consult. Her mother, teacher Rola Subhie, required to return to work in the U.S. by Monday, faced the added pressure of avoiding further missed school days.
Other passengers reported extreme wait times for customer support, including an attempted call by a traveler named Sarah Ann, who was informed of a 6
hour and 45 minute hold time by WestJet’s automated system. After multiple cancellations and failed rebooking attempts, she booked a flight on Alaska Airlines for a family wedding, incurring nearly $1,000 in extra costs.
Legal Rebooking Requirements and Advocacy Advice
According to Gábor Lukács, passenger advocate and founder of Air Passenger Rights, WestJet is not rebooking passengers within the legally mandated 48-hour window following cancellations. Lukács noted some rebookings are made on flights that are also cancelled, which breaches the obligations under Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
Lukács advised passengers to purchase alternate flights if WestJet fails to provide timely rebooking. “If they don’t get back to
you within three hours of the cancellation of your flight, I would go and buy myself a ticket at another airline,” he said. Passengers can then submit reimbursement claims to WestJet after completing their travel within Canada.
Financial Costs to Passengers and Responses
Passengers reported financial losses from non-refundable hotels and additional flight costs. Mike Phenix estimated their unrecouped expenses to be over $2,000. Many affected travelers book flights on other airlines at their own expense due to the delays in rebooking and uncertain customer service responses.
Sarah Ann described her experience as “very frustrating” and “very stressful” after her WestJet flight was cancelled twice and
she could not reach an agent by phone or even via the airline’s AI chat service.
WestJet did not respond to a request for an interview by the deadline of the source report.
