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WestJet starts parking planes as strike deadline approaches WestJet starts parking planes as strike deadline approaches. <\/p>\nPassengers say they\u2019re feeling frustrated and stranded as they wait for answers from WestJet. Kamil Karamali reports. <\/p>\n
TORONTO – A steady lineup of passengers, with worrisome looks on their faces waited to ask questions to WestJet staff at the Terminal 3 departures corridor at Toronto\u2019s Pearson airport on Saturday afternoon. <\/p>\n
Without fail, anytime the lineup appeared to shorten after WestJet employees helped some of the passengers, the queue would build up again, creating a seemingly endless barrage of questions fielded by airline staff.<\/p>\n
Nearby, several clusters of passengers held onto luggage with one hand and had their cell phones up to their ear with the other as they waited to rebook their flights on WestJet\u2019s customer service line.<\/p>\n
Scattered around them were some passengers who appeared to have gotten tired of standing, laying down with their heads on their backpacks or sitting up against a nearby wall.<\/p>\n
Among them is Jenni Kezema. It\u2019s her wedding anniversary. She was supposed to be on a flight to Dublin to meet her kids, who were going to celebrate with her and her husband as a family.<\/p>\n
Instead, what was meant to be a quick layover between Regina and Ireland, ended up now being a place that they can\u2019t escape.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our 35th [anniversary] and our kids are waiting for us,\u201d Jenni and her husband, Jerry Kezema, told CTV News Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never felt more stranded in my life than I do right now,\u201d she added. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a suitcase; we don\u2019t have a hotel\u2026 I have kids waiting in Ireland for me right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re stranded, we have nowhere to go and no way to get there,\u201d said Jerry Kezema, who said they received 10 to 12 hours notice of their flight cancellation.<\/p>\n
The couple said that there is little to no hope that they\u2019ll be able to get on a flight soon, or that they\u2019ll have a hotel set up by WestJet for them to stay the night in Toronto.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said they\u2019re trying to find us another flight out, but when we talked to a manager over there, they said there aren\u2019t any,\u201d said Jenni Kezema, who added that when they asked for hotel rooms, WestJet staff told them there were none.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat financial price can you put on that? It\u2019s time that we\u2019re losing with our family,\u201d said Jerry Kezema.<\/p>\n
WestJet starts parking planes as strike deadline approaches WestJet starts parking planes as strike deadline approaches. <\/p>\n
WestJet began winding down operations Friday in preparation for roughly 4,400 flight attendants walking off the job Sunday. By late Saturday afternoon, the airline had announced 198 flight cancellations.<\/p>\n
The Calgary-based airline and the flight attendants\u2019 union \u2013 CUPE Local 8125 \u2013 have not been able to reach a tentative agreement and are currently slated to go on strike by 12:01 MT Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis action is in response to the union\u2019s notice to strike and the inability to reach an agreement. WestJet\u2019s most recent proposal was designed to be a transformative, industry-leading agreement for WestJet\u2019s Cabin Crew, and directly addressed the key issues the union identified as its priorities,\u201d said the airline in a statement Saturday. <\/p>\n
CUPE spokesperson Lisa Lambert tells CTV News in an email statement that the \u201cbargaining continues in earnest, in an attempt to avert a strike\/lockout.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s of little consolation to a young couple from Toronto who had planned a week in Cancun, until they found out their flight was cancelled. They\u2019re not sure how or when they\u2019ll be able to get to their resort with their room now sitting empty, waiting for them to arrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo better,\u201d said Ryan Dos Santos in his message to the union and the airline, after waiting on hold with WestJet for around 45 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not fair to us as customers, as people who are wanting to enjoy our time, working hard to [take] a trip like this. It\u2019s not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile some passengers, like Kaitlyn Brisebois and Cody Foreman, are trying to remain optimistic after their flight to Edinburgh was cancelled from Halifax, with the first leg of the journey from Toronto to Halifax still on schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no one\u2019s fault, it happens,\u201d said Foreman to CTV News Saturday. \u201cThey can\u2019t deal with us here because we [booked] with a third party, so we have to call numbers and stuff. As long as we get taken care of, we\u2019ll be alright.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to start our holidays,\u201d said Briseboise. \u201cEverything\u2019s already booked out there, so we just want to get there. We can\u2019t really get refunds on all those tickets either.\u201d<\/p>\n
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