Canadian carrier WestJet confirmed on Sunday, 2 August 2026, that its 4,400 flight attendants have walked off the job after last-minute talks with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) failed to produce an agreement on pay and ground-duty compensation. More than 300 flights were cancelled within hours, forcing the airline to park its entire Boeing 737 and 787 fleet until further notice. The stoppage immediately affects the seasonal daily Calgary–Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and thrice-weekly Toronto–Paris services that WestJet has marketed heavily to leisure passengers and small-and-medium enterprises looking for lower-cost alternatives to Air France-KLM and Air Canada. Although WestJet Encore turboprop services inside Canada and code-share flights operated by partners remain in the air, the long-haul network is effectively shut down. WestJet says affected travellers will receive full refunds or reaccommodation, but with the transatlantic high season at its peak and many Air France and Air Canada flights already near capacity, seats to Paris are scarce and prices on remaining flights surged 35–40 percent within hours of the strike announcement, according to online travel-agency data. For French inbound tourism operators, the timing could hardly be worse. Canada is France’s eighth-largest long-haul source market, and the first weekend of August traditionally marks the start of France’s “grands départs” holiday exodus. Paris airports operator ADP estimates that up to 9,000 Canadian passengers per week were booked on WestJet’s Paris routes in August; most will now have to re-route through Montréal or London or postpone their trips. The Île-de-France regional tourism board warned hotel partners to anticipate a wave of last-minute date changes and refund requests. Corporate travel managers have also taken notice. French multinationals with Canadian subsidiaries—among them TotalEnergies, Ubisoft and SNC-Lavalin—have activated contingency plans that prioritise essential trips on Air Canada or Air France and move non-critical meetings online. Because the strike originates in Canada, EU261 passenger-rights rules do not apply on westbound legs originating in Calgary or Toronto; travellers will have to rely on Canadian regulations, which require refunds but do not mandate fixed-amount compensation. Both WestJet and CUPE say they are willing to resume negotiations, and Canada’s Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan has not ruled out back-to-work legislation if the walkout drags on. For now, however, anyone planning to fly between France and Canada on WestJet in the coming week should rebook, consider alternative hubs such as Montréal or Brussels, or be prepared to shift travel to September once peak-season capacity loosens.
Source: Associated Press
