Your story made me get teary eyed when I came to the Montana Macdonald bringing in extra staff to help out, and the general initiative assistance and helpfulness of every Westerner from Canada and USA. The CBSA reaction is unfortunately typical. As a dual national I have come to expect a smile and “welcome home” heading South to be treated as a criminal when going north.
To be absolutely fair to CBSA in Coutts, and I know quite a few of them, 1:30am is not a time when you have a full complement of officers. Literally 2-3 people were working there no doubt.
What a great story to have committed to 'paper' for the band to hold onto in the future. Thanks to the caretakers of the band members all along the way.
Canada needs to open up commercial air travel to competition, which would also mean repealing the Air Canada act. The prices, service and delays are among the worst in the developed world. In a truly competitive market, unions would think twice about striking as such action could force their employers into insolvency.
I don’t (necessarily) disagree, but you need to remember that outside airlines (including the ones in the US) are significantly subsidized whether directly or in funding their main operating airports.
Blindly opening up to subsidized foreign competition may in essence mean the end of a domestic industry, after which the cost savings may commence. (After you’ve captured a market with high barriers of entry, you can increase prices and reduce service with far less concern that you’ll lose that market)
I’m not taking a position on this, but it’s something to be approached cautiously.
If you don't open up to competition, then you have to regulate. There's a reason AirCanada has the worst on time record and the smallest pitch between seats of any airline. I believe WestJet is also top ten in late/cancelled flights.
If Canada invites competition from a foreign subsidized industry without at least matching those subsidies on an ongoing basis, we need to recognized that we are NOT inviting competition... we're asking foreign airlines to simply replace our domestic airlines. Now some people might like that, but let's be clear on what we're talking about.
The second reason is when we are entirely reliant on US airlines, we're are now at the mercy of what makes economic sense for them. If routing most or all East/West traffic through a hub in the USA makes economic sense, that's what will happen. (And given how much more US traffic there is than Canadian it likely will happen.)
That's fantastic if you're trying to get a flight from Kamloops to New York because you'll likely get a better connection and FAR more options for flight times. But it's not great if you're looking for a flight from Kamloops to Saskatoon or Montreal. And if you're barred entry to the US, it might be a very serious difficulty indeed.
The European Union managed to create one transportation market, for fucks sake we should be able to do this in North America. The only thing holding Canada back, as with most things, is our feather bedding, timid mediocre elite. They are worried that they will quite frankly be wiped out by superior competition, and they are right.
North America should be one market as far as transportation is concerned. Folks in South America and Asia think we are weird for not caring about our consumers and business people. The lack of travel for tourism and business across Canada is literally killing this country since it is too expensive to travel to other regions and learn about them and make a buck. Account building is face to face in the rest of the world. That's one reason why Canadian business sucks at growth from small to large, we kneecap cross continent travel.
That it is cheaper for me to do a three day sales trip to London (including Hotel/Airbnb and food, out of tourist season) versus Toronto or New York from Calgary is absolutely not acceptable.
Our parochialism, or if you like, the acceptance of Canadians of the parochialism of Quebec and Ontario's elites, is killing us.
There’s been multiple strikes at US airlines this year - the increased competition of the U.S. market doesn’t really make a difference. Also, airlines all tend to operate with a load factor of 80-90%, so it’s still hard to absorb the impact on passengers if one airline interrupts operations due to a strike.
I also don’t buy the idea that the US is much better in terms of prices, service, or delays. The cost of a ticket between San Francisco and Chicago is about the same as a ticket from Vancouver to Toronto. Anybody who’s been at Chicago’s O’Hare in the summer when a thunderstorm comes through can tell you horror stories about delays. I’ve also found US domestic service to be *worse* than WestJet or Air Canada since the pandemic.
The truth is that Canadian prices and service look worse because we’ve got a relatively small population spread over large distances. Flying to the Maritimes is going to be expensive no matter how much competition there is because it just doesn’t have the traffic to command bigger aircraft and more frequent flights, and it’s a long way from big centers. Regina shouldn’t be comparing their air service to Seattle or Chicago - they need to compare themselves to Fargo, North Dakota.
I currently live in the US and used to live in Australia, two other countries with vast geographies. It was commonplace to find $350 return flights between Perth and Brisbane, a distance similar to Vancouver to Toronto. Short haul flights like Brisbane to Sydney can be as cheap as $79. The airlines also had technologies like SMS based rebooking on delays (you get a text saying flight is delayed or cancelled offering up intelligent alternatives and you can reply to select which one) and facial recognition boarding passes years before Canada. I currently commute over the western US, also sparsely populated, and can get flights on Spirit that are often less than the cost of getting to the airport.
Commercial aviation in Canada is a mess because government goes out of its way to prop up Air Canada to secure votes and because it inappropriately positions air service as a matter of identity.
It isn't identity, it's keeping Montreal votes. Air Canada wanted to move their corporate offices to Toronto and their technical hub to Winnipeg for ages, but the act literally prohibits this. The federal obsession is keeping Quebec bribed so they don't leave after all.
But to your point, yes, if you book 4 weeks ahead the US is cheaper but the experience isn't as nice. You have way more flights in the US though.
The corporate and sales culture in the US keeps the aviation business afloat. American corporate types think nothing of booking a flight on Monday to meet up for Wednesday and fly home Thursday morning. It's bog standard. Our corporate culture just isn't like that. We are run by accountants so we Canadians know the price of everything and the value of nothing. We'd rather be poorer than risk. The cost of flying across Canada or the hotels in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary doesn't help either. It's Manhattan prices but without all the stuff or opportunities.
This is a great story about a group of people coming together to help some kids in a difficult situation. I only wish that we could have been spared the tired trope of honest people earning an honest living with their hands. The implication is, of course, that those who don't work with their hands, such as me, are somehow less honest. I have been cheated out of real money one more than one occasion by "honest people earning a living with their hands". There is no connection between the two. Other than that, a great story. Good work!
One of the unique things about being an engineer is that you have one foot in the corporate and academic worlds, that of suits and white collars, and you have one foot in the working class world, that of calloused hands and blue collars. They are the same. One isn't more moral than the other, and that even includes farmers. Those of similar discipline, intelligence and work ethic make a very similar living, no matter the colour of their collar. They just care about different things and make their living differently. There is no virtue dividend.
Reading back U have to give credit to McDonals for actually believing the order of a gazzilion fries, burgers and nuggets . I wonder if they had to pre pay?
Staff in small town fast food outlets are used to bus loads of bands, athletes and others showing up with large orders. The Showbands in Calgary have gone on lots of bus tours in the past so the logistics were not foreign to them. This one was just unplanned.
What is clear as a bell is that WestJet has adopted Air Canada’s motto: “We’re not happy until you’re not happy!” In February we booked with WestJet to Hawaii to meet another couple of friends from Saskatoon. WJ cancelled our return flight and took three days off our holiday. They also failed to deliver our friends to YVR for the flight to Hawaii and dumped them in Denver for an 11 hour layover. I will never fly them again. We are off to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. My only instruction to the travel agent was “no WestJet”. We are flying Delta, first class, for a shade more than WJ charged for premium economy. They used to be sooo good!!! It takes a perverse sort of talent to so damage a good company.
Other reporting on the Westjet strike make it clear that the minister was either acting on bad advice from his staff in thinking his arbitration order would end the strike, or else they missed an important step as described by Steve D. That's bureaucratic dysfunction.
It's also a fact that the minister's incompetent meddling made this situation worse by facilitating a surprise strike by the union. Airline scheduling is incredibly complicated, involving the movement and location of planes and crews. An unplanned disruption to that scheduling causes chaos through the entire complex system, and can take a lot longer to sort out (as happened.)
"...a directive for binding arbitration from Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan was met with job action by WestJet plane mechanics just one day after it was issued, catching the airline and the government off guard...
...
Given the minister's broad authority "to secure industrial peace" under the Canada Labour Code, O'Regan had the power to bar a strike in a directive to the country's labour tribunal that imposes binding arbitration, said a union official and aviation experts."
The minister also had the power to preclude a strike, but didn't use it because he and his staff thought ordering binding arbitration would preclude a strike. They were wrong. How is that NOT a perfect example of dysfunctional bureaucracy?
Well,, if you dig a little further you. would find it was in fact the ministers office that gaffed here. When they issued the order to the Labour board to assign binding arbitration to two parties involved ,Westjet and AMFA(the union) ,they neglected to instruct the Labour Board that the air service was an essential service and there fore a strike illegal. The Labour board issued only the binding arbitration and the AMFA pick up on the omission and issued a strike order the next day. As per a quote from the minister O'Reagan's office, the omissions was regrettable. If it matters the AMFA apologized for the inconvenience and by the way I'm a Liberal .
Absolutely takes two to tango, no argument. In this case the AMFA was trying to make inroads in Canada and take a bite out of the IAM membership revenues . In their minds strong arming Onex was a way to do this. If allowed they were always going to strike. FYI. Westjet mechanics now make an equivalent to the American wages. 16 percent higher than IAM standard. And who pays the price for al of this. You an I, in the form of seat costs. Air Canada is now staring at the same wages for the next IAM contract in 18 months.
He should lose his cabinet position for this screw up and the union should compensate the travelers. I hope this leads to Westjet taking legal action against both the federal government and the union. What is the point of agreeing to binding arbitration if the union can still strike?
It’s very simple. When a minister who represents the Crown (the King of both England and Canada, last I heard) gives you assurances you expect that his word can be relied on. But of course that has become a mistake with anything to do with Canada’s ESL king and his minions.
And this is such a childish attempt to rewrite recent history one would have to believe you know nothing about the actual events - or have been convinced of ridiculous lies and lame attempts at smears by the likes of Ezra Levant and Brian Lilley.
You don’t need Ezra. Reread the article including the paragraph before “Whoops”. Google English Canadian “John Ridsdel” for another - extreme - example of how your government looks after you.
Westjet has been understaffed in their call centre for years now. They probably still blame COVID. I travel all the time for business all over the world, their unofficial motto is "flag carrier prices, discount carrier service."
But guess what, now it is illegal for federally regulated workplaces such as in aviation to even allow folks who refuse to participate in the strike from working during a strike. Absolutely bonkers and yet another small reason of many why Canada in 2024 is just not competitive economically. Again, blame the French philosophical definition of egalitarianism and the SCC shoving it down the throats of English Canada, Pierre Poilievre included.
Great story that demonstrates the power of relying on one another and not waiting for government to “ fix” what they cannot
I realize that there’s a narrative of “don’t rely on the government”, but at the end of the day, that narrative doesn’t fit this situation.
This is a failure by WestJet.
Whether one blames the mechanics or the management, neither are “the government”. They’re private entities.
Your story made me get teary eyed when I came to the Montana Macdonald bringing in extra staff to help out, and the general initiative assistance and helpfulness of every Westerner from Canada and USA. The CBSA reaction is unfortunately typical. As a dual national I have come to expect a smile and “welcome home” heading South to be treated as a criminal when going north.
To be absolutely fair to CBSA in Coutts, and I know quite a few of them, 1:30am is not a time when you have a full complement of officers. Literally 2-3 people were working there no doubt.
What a great story to have committed to 'paper' for the band to hold onto in the future. Thanks to the caretakers of the band members all along the way.
The Westjet brand, IMO, has been badly damaged since the name Onex was 1st introduced into the conversation. 🙄
Canada needs to open up commercial air travel to competition, which would also mean repealing the Air Canada act. The prices, service and delays are among the worst in the developed world. In a truly competitive market, unions would think twice about striking as such action could force their employers into insolvency.
I don’t (necessarily) disagree, but you need to remember that outside airlines (including the ones in the US) are significantly subsidized whether directly or in funding their main operating airports.
Blindly opening up to subsidized foreign competition may in essence mean the end of a domestic industry, after which the cost savings may commence. (After you’ve captured a market with high barriers of entry, you can increase prices and reduce service with far less concern that you’ll lose that market)
I’m not taking a position on this, but it’s something to be approached cautiously.
If you don't open up to competition, then you have to regulate. There's a reason AirCanada has the worst on time record and the smallest pitch between seats of any airline. I believe WestJet is also top ten in late/cancelled flights.
What that matter when foreign airlines fly in Canada as they would be subject to the same fees?
It matters for two reasons.
If Canada invites competition from a foreign subsidized industry without at least matching those subsidies on an ongoing basis, we need to recognized that we are NOT inviting competition... we're asking foreign airlines to simply replace our domestic airlines. Now some people might like that, but let's be clear on what we're talking about.
The second reason is when we are entirely reliant on US airlines, we're are now at the mercy of what makes economic sense for them. If routing most or all East/West traffic through a hub in the USA makes economic sense, that's what will happen. (And given how much more US traffic there is than Canadian it likely will happen.)
That's fantastic if you're trying to get a flight from Kamloops to New York because you'll likely get a better connection and FAR more options for flight times. But it's not great if you're looking for a flight from Kamloops to Saskatoon or Montreal. And if you're barred entry to the US, it might be a very serious difficulty indeed.
The European Union managed to create one transportation market, for fucks sake we should be able to do this in North America. The only thing holding Canada back, as with most things, is our feather bedding, timid mediocre elite. They are worried that they will quite frankly be wiped out by superior competition, and they are right.
North America should be one market as far as transportation is concerned. Folks in South America and Asia think we are weird for not caring about our consumers and business people. The lack of travel for tourism and business across Canada is literally killing this country since it is too expensive to travel to other regions and learn about them and make a buck. Account building is face to face in the rest of the world. That's one reason why Canadian business sucks at growth from small to large, we kneecap cross continent travel.
That it is cheaper for me to do a three day sales trip to London (including Hotel/Airbnb and food, out of tourist season) versus Toronto or New York from Calgary is absolutely not acceptable.
Our parochialism, or if you like, the acceptance of Canadians of the parochialism of Quebec and Ontario's elites, is killing us.
There’s been multiple strikes at US airlines this year - the increased competition of the U.S. market doesn’t really make a difference. Also, airlines all tend to operate with a load factor of 80-90%, so it’s still hard to absorb the impact on passengers if one airline interrupts operations due to a strike.
I also don’t buy the idea that the US is much better in terms of prices, service, or delays. The cost of a ticket between San Francisco and Chicago is about the same as a ticket from Vancouver to Toronto. Anybody who’s been at Chicago’s O’Hare in the summer when a thunderstorm comes through can tell you horror stories about delays. I’ve also found US domestic service to be *worse* than WestJet or Air Canada since the pandemic.
The truth is that Canadian prices and service look worse because we’ve got a relatively small population spread over large distances. Flying to the Maritimes is going to be expensive no matter how much competition there is because it just doesn’t have the traffic to command bigger aircraft and more frequent flights, and it’s a long way from big centers. Regina shouldn’t be comparing their air service to Seattle or Chicago - they need to compare themselves to Fargo, North Dakota.
I currently live in the US and used to live in Australia, two other countries with vast geographies. It was commonplace to find $350 return flights between Perth and Brisbane, a distance similar to Vancouver to Toronto. Short haul flights like Brisbane to Sydney can be as cheap as $79. The airlines also had technologies like SMS based rebooking on delays (you get a text saying flight is delayed or cancelled offering up intelligent alternatives and you can reply to select which one) and facial recognition boarding passes years before Canada. I currently commute over the western US, also sparsely populated, and can get flights on Spirit that are often less than the cost of getting to the airport.
Commercial aviation in Canada is a mess because government goes out of its way to prop up Air Canada to secure votes and because it inappropriately positions air service as a matter of identity.
It isn't identity, it's keeping Montreal votes. Air Canada wanted to move their corporate offices to Toronto and their technical hub to Winnipeg for ages, but the act literally prohibits this. The federal obsession is keeping Quebec bribed so they don't leave after all.
But to your point, yes, if you book 4 weeks ahead the US is cheaper but the experience isn't as nice. You have way more flights in the US though.
The corporate and sales culture in the US keeps the aviation business afloat. American corporate types think nothing of booking a flight on Monday to meet up for Wednesday and fly home Thursday morning. It's bog standard. Our corporate culture just isn't like that. We are run by accountants so we Canadians know the price of everything and the value of nothing. We'd rather be poorer than risk. The cost of flying across Canada or the hotels in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary doesn't help either. It's Manhattan prices but without all the stuff or opportunities.
The kids and their supervisors must have been exhausted. Happy it ended well.
But I bet that they also felt terrific and grateful!
This is a great story about a group of people coming together to help some kids in a difficult situation. I only wish that we could have been spared the tired trope of honest people earning an honest living with their hands. The implication is, of course, that those who don't work with their hands, such as me, are somehow less honest. I have been cheated out of real money one more than one occasion by "honest people earning a living with their hands". There is no connection between the two. Other than that, a great story. Good work!
One of the unique things about being an engineer is that you have one foot in the corporate and academic worlds, that of suits and white collars, and you have one foot in the working class world, that of calloused hands and blue collars. They are the same. One isn't more moral than the other, and that even includes farmers. Those of similar discipline, intelligence and work ethic make a very similar living, no matter the colour of their collar. They just care about different things and make their living differently. There is no virtue dividend.
Nicely said, Kico. I wish that I had been as eloquent in my original comment.
You were. I was just adding to your original point.
Well said, very well said, Kico.
Reading back U have to give credit to McDonals for actually believing the order of a gazzilion fries, burgers and nuggets . I wonder if they had to pre pay?
Staff in small town fast food outlets are used to bus loads of bands, athletes and others showing up with large orders. The Showbands in Calgary have gone on lots of bus tours in the past so the logistics were not foreign to them. This one was just unplanned.
This is small town USA. They trust people. Nuff said…
What is clear as a bell is that WestJet has adopted Air Canada’s motto: “We’re not happy until you’re not happy!” In February we booked with WestJet to Hawaii to meet another couple of friends from Saskatoon. WJ cancelled our return flight and took three days off our holiday. They also failed to deliver our friends to YVR for the flight to Hawaii and dumped them in Denver for an 11 hour layover. I will never fly them again. We are off to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. My only instruction to the travel agent was “no WestJet”. We are flying Delta, first class, for a shade more than WJ charged for premium economy. They used to be sooo good!!! It takes a perverse sort of talent to so damage a good company.
Great story, tour group seemed to have gone above and beyond to get the kids home. Great adventure for the kids
Bureaucracy at its stupid best !
What bureaucracy?
Seriously.
How is anything in this story a demonstration of dysfunctional bureaucracy?
Other reporting on the Westjet strike make it clear that the minister was either acting on bad advice from his staff in thinking his arbitration order would end the strike, or else they missed an important step as described by Steve D. That's bureaucratic dysfunction.
It's also a fact that the minister's incompetent meddling made this situation worse by facilitating a surprise strike by the union. Airline scheduling is incredibly complicated, involving the movement and location of planes and crews. An unplanned disruption to that scheduling causes chaos through the entire complex system, and can take a lot longer to sort out (as happened.)
You’re just making shit up.
Other reporting?
What?
Brian Lilley?
You seem to be quite resistant to reality, but here's another try: https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/how-arbitration-plans-went-awry-ahead-of-westjet-mechanics-strike-1.6948431
"...a directive for binding arbitration from Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan was met with job action by WestJet plane mechanics just one day after it was issued, catching the airline and the government off guard...
...
Given the minister's broad authority "to secure industrial peace" under the Canada Labour Code, O'Regan had the power to bar a strike in a directive to the country's labour tribunal that imposes binding arbitration, said a union official and aviation experts."
The minister also had the power to preclude a strike, but didn't use it because he and his staff thought ordering binding arbitration would preclude a strike. They were wrong. How is that NOT a perfect example of dysfunctional bureaucracy?
The gymnastics required to blame the Transport Minister for kids being stranded in Disneyland during an airline strike!
Hilarious.
This should be an event in the Conservative Olympics 🤣
Well,, if you dig a little further you. would find it was in fact the ministers office that gaffed here. When they issued the order to the Labour board to assign binding arbitration to two parties involved ,Westjet and AMFA(the union) ,they neglected to instruct the Labour Board that the air service was an essential service and there fore a strike illegal. The Labour board issued only the binding arbitration and the AMFA pick up on the omission and issued a strike order the next day. As per a quote from the minister O'Reagan's office, the omissions was regrettable. If it matters the AMFA apologized for the inconvenience and by the way I'm a Liberal .
Sorry what?
You say O’Regan “apologized” for not declaring the airline an “essential service”?
That’s a bizarre fantasy.
Siri, spell Onex Corp.
Absolutely takes two to tango, no argument. In this case the AMFA was trying to make inroads in Canada and take a bite out of the IAM membership revenues . In their minds strong arming Onex was a way to do this. If allowed they were always going to strike. FYI. Westjet mechanics now make an equivalent to the American wages. 16 percent higher than IAM standard. And who pays the price for al of this. You an I, in the form of seat costs. Air Canada is now staring at the same wages for the next IAM contract in 18 months.
He should lose his cabinet position for this screw up and the union should compensate the travelers. I hope this leads to Westjet taking legal action against both the federal government and the union. What is the point of agreeing to binding arbitration if the union can still strike?
It’s very simple. When a minister who represents the Crown (the King of both England and Canada, last I heard) gives you assurances you expect that his word can be relied on. But of course that has become a mistake with anything to do with Canada’s ESL king and his minions.
Weird sidetrack.
And this is such a childish attempt to rewrite recent history one would have to believe you know nothing about the actual events - or have been convinced of ridiculous lies and lame attempts at smears by the likes of Ezra Levant and Brian Lilley.
🤔
You don’t need Ezra. Reread the article including the paragraph before “Whoops”. Google English Canadian “John Ridsdel” for another - extreme - example of how your government looks after you.
Yeah. Like a bridge…and maybe a forward roll( the most basic gymnastics moves).
Westjet has been understaffed in their call centre for years now. They probably still blame COVID. I travel all the time for business all over the world, their unofficial motto is "flag carrier prices, discount carrier service."
But guess what, now it is illegal for federally regulated workplaces such as in aviation to even allow folks who refuse to participate in the strike from working during a strike. Absolutely bonkers and yet another small reason of many why Canada in 2024 is just not competitive economically. Again, blame the French philosophical definition of egalitarianism and the SCC shoving it down the throats of English Canada, Pierre Poilievre included.
This is the result.
Thank God everyone is home safely...
This may be my first or second comment on a Line article, but this is just wonderful, fun-to-read writing. Very well-done.
Thanks for sharing your story, Laura. Glad the kids made it home safely.
I want to hear the editorial discussion on the term, “merry band of dumbasses”