CALGARY — WestJet has started cancelling flights in anticipation of an employee strike.

WestJet aircraft maintenance engineers and other tech ops employees are poised to walk off the job as early as Thursday night after serving the airline with a 72-hour strike notice on June 17. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), which represents some 670 aircraft maintenance engineers and other skilled-trade positions at the carrier, says it made the decision after WestJet cut off talks this week.

The WestJet Group is now parking aircraft, resulting in 40 flight cancellations between June 18-19 and impacting 6,500 guests.

The flight cancellations come as WestJet waits for a response to its request that the Canadian Industrial Relations Board intervene. If accepted, the move would refer the dispute to arbitration and prevent labour action by both sides, the company says.

AMFA, whose members voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative agreement last week, opposes the move, saying it would undermine their goal of an “industry-changing contract.”

According to Diederik Pen, President of WestJet Airlines and Group Chief Operating Officer, the proposed deal would have made employees the best paid airplane mechanics in the country.

“We are immensely disheartened that we are in a position where we must activate our continency plan and begin parking aircraft, as a result of the strike notice served by AMFA. We deeply regret the disruption this will have on the travel plans of our guests, communities and businesses that rely on our critical service,” says Pen.

“Following the memberships’ nearly unanimous decision to reject a generous tentative agreement that would have made our aircraft maintenance engineers the highest paid in the country, with a take-home pay increase of 30%-40% in the first year of the proposed agreement, it is clear that the bargaining process has broken down,” he adds.

Pen says every effort is being made to reaccommodate all impacted guests. Guests travelling are advised to check the status of their flight prior to leaving for the airport. They can also visit WestJet’s Guest Updates page for more information regarding flight status and travel changes.

With file from The Canadian Press