Fair Agreements for Canadian Pilots

Lets Talk about Westjet

Executives Leadership Positions are not Permanent
At WestJet, executive compensation is structured to compete with major U.S. carriers like American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. Senior leadership pay reflects that benchmark. When margins improve, when EBITDA targets are met, when enterprise value increases, bonuses follow.
WestJet is owned by Onex Corporation. Onex operates on a clear model: acquire, improve performance, increase value, exit when the timing is right. Capital is deployed with an expectation of disciplined cost control and measurable return.
Executives operate within that framework. If they deliver improved financial metrics and position the company well, they are rewarded. If ownership transitions or leadership changes after a sale or IPO, their careers continue elsewhere. Their timeline is measured in performance cycles.

Pilots live on a different timeline.
A career at Westjet may span decades. The labour contract determines lifestyle, schedule, pension growth, and long-term earnings. When decisions are made about fleet allocation, operational reliability, staffing levels, or labour strategy, pilots will carry the impact for years — not quarters. The difference in time horizon is what drives the behaviour of both parties.
Management will always act in alignment with its incentives. If executive compensation is tied to controlling costs and expanding margins, labour costs will be tightly managed. Expecting anything else is naïve. The real question is not what management will do. The real question is whether pilots will respond with equal clarity.
An airline cannot operate without its pilots. Pilots are a finite, highly trained, legally required workforce. Aircraft do not depart without qualified pilots. Schedules do not recover without qualified pilots. Revenue is 100% dependant on qualified pilots. This is leverage.
But leverage that is inconsistent is leverage squandered.

Management Measures Behaviour
Unity is a pattern of conduct sustained over time. It requires junior and senior pilots, every fleet, every base, moving in the same direction — even when it is inconvenient. Unity collapses quickly when misinformation takes over the narrative.

Crew room rumours. Confident but incomplete social media comments. Anonymous commentary masquerading as insider knowledge. Half-understood contract interpretations. These erode cohesion faster than any executive decision ever could. When pilots argue with each other over distorted narratives, management does not need to intervene. Division does the work. And they ARE watching.

If pilots want strength at the bargaining table, they must protect the integrity of their own information environment. That means proactively reading official union communications instead of relying on what others have to say. Attending meetings even when you think you already know the story. Asking questions directly to elected representatives rather than speculating in group chats. Correcting false narratives when they surface instead of letting them spread.

Positive participation matters more than people realize. High voter turnout signals resolve. Strong survey participation provides data that cannot be ignored. Visible solidarity — worn, spoken, demonstrated — reinforces credibility. Supporting colleagues who choose not to go beyond the collective agreement reinforces consistency. Do the work. Read your contract. If you don't understand something in our contract, ask someone who does. Be engaged. Take the time to fully understand where your union is going. Speak up and participate. 

Restraint
Declining voluntary open time when leverage is strategically required disrupts planning assumptions. Strict adherence to contract language removes informal productivity cushions. Consistency throughout the pilot group prevents management from isolating segments of the group.

• When pilots’ express frustration but continue to pick up voluntary open time when strategic restraint is required, the message to management is clear...
• If contract language is flexed informally “just this once,” the message is clear...
• If engagement spikes briefly and then fades when negotiations drag on, the message is to management is clear...

The message? - The group is open to manipulation.

Consistent restraint is powerful precisely because they are consistent. Management notices even if you don’t hear them talking about it. And when they do bring it up, it’s because they are concerned that they are not in control of the narrative. That is precisely when further consistency is required.

There will always be pressure to ease off. There will always be voices saying, “This won’t change anything,” or “Management will never move.” Those narratives benefit only one side: Management.

History across North American aviation has shown that unified pilot groups can shift outcomes. Fragmented groups become puppets of management rhetoric. Don’t be their puppets.

Bottom Line
Executives are paid to deliver returns to shareholders, including Onex. That's their mandate. Pilots must be equally disciplined about their own mandate: protecting career earnings, work rules, and professional standards over the long term.
No executive compensation package includes safeguarding your retirement. No private equity model includes preserving your professional value. Those priorities exist only if the pilot group enforces them collectively.
Ownership structures evolve. Executive teams rotate. Strategies change. The pilot group remains. The contract you secure — or fail to secure — will shape schedules, compensation, and quality of life long after today’s leadership has moved on.
Unity is essential. Engagement is not option. Obtaining and sharing reliable information is everyone's responsibility.
It is vital that pilots stay informed, stay aligned, and maintain disciplined participation in every aspect of union and contract strategy.
The leverage is real. The outcome depends on whether it is exercised with consistency and resolve.

Something to consider:
Westjet Executive Quote Feb 19, 2025
“Were right staffed but we have very little reserves .........So we rely greatly on volunteerism. So when that volunteerism drops or there's mass disruption and use a lot of those (volunteer) resources we're left a little bit exposed.”

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