Cancellation of Hundreds of Flights in Canada

Canada's second-largest airline, "WestJet," announced the cancellation of 407 flights affecting 49,000 passengers after the maintenance workers' union declared a strike. The Aircraft Mechanics Brotherhood stated that its members began the strike on Friday evening because the airline's "reluctance to negotiate with the union" made it unavoidable. This sudden strike, which impacted both international and domestic flights, occurred after the federal government issued a ministerial order for binding arbitration on Thursday, following two weeks of tense discussions with the union about a new deal. The company reported that it would continue to ground its planes until Sunday for the long weekend culminating in "Canada Day" on Monday. The airline's CEO, Alexis von Hoensbroech, directly blamed the situation on what he described as a "rogue union from the United States" trying to achieve successes in Canada.