WestJet starts parking Boeing 737 jets ahead of looming labor strike

July 31 (Reuters) – Canada’s WestJet said on Friday it has begun parking Boeing 737 planes as negotiations with flight attendants have not resulted in an agreement, which could lead to labor disruptions.

Cabin crew at the Calgary-based carrier, owned by Onex Corp, could strike as early as August 2 at 12:01 a.m. Mountain Time (0601 GMT), if talks fail to produce an agreement over a dispute on unpaid work, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents WestJet flight attendants, had said on Thursday.

The union is asking for cabin crew to be paid from the time they check in to when they clock out, which is not the case currently.

“We remain active at the bargaining table to achieve a mutually agreeable deal at the earliest possible time,” WestJet said in a statement on Friday, adding that parking the aircraft allows it to maintain operational control.

WestJet Encore flights  operated  on Bombardier’s Q400 and codeshare flights operated by partners remain unaffected, it said.

“We have made some progress, and the issues remaining need to be resolved at the table. We are hopeful that we can still avoid a strike,” said Alia Hussain, president of the WestJet Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City, additional reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)