CALGARY — WestJet Group CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech is pushing back against claims from the WestJet Component of CUPE 8125 – which includes some 4,400 cabin crew members at WestJet mainline – about the airline’s flight attendants and unpaid work.
In a interview with CTV News, von Hoensbroech was asked about flight attendant claims of 35 unpaid hours of work each month. The union says there is a widening gap between the work flight attendants are required to perform and how that work is compensated. According to CUPE 8125, flight attendants are responsible for passenger safety from the moment they report for duty, yet significant portions of that time are not fully compensated under the current system.
Their grievances echo those of Air Canada’s flight attendants. In August 2025 some 10,000 flight attendants for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge went on strike. That strike completely halted Air Canada operations for three days and later prompted a federal government probe into unpaid work.
CTV’s interview with von Hoensbroech came as flight attendants vote on a strike mandate. The vote opened July 8 and runs through July 15. Negotiations have been ongoing for the past 10 months. The earliest flight attendants would be able to strike is Aug. 2.
“We have been talking for quite some time with our flight attendants. And we absolutely know that we need a refresh for their contract. It has been going on five years,” von Hoensbroech told CTV.
“We want our FAs to be happy and to feel well compensated,” he said, adding that “we are putting something in front of them that in our belief makes a lot of sense. It takes two to tango, we will see where this goes … but I’m generally optimistic that we will come to a conclusion that makes a lot of sense for them.”
Asked why he disagrees with the union’s characterization of up to 35 unpaid hours of work each month, von Hoensbroech said: “This is absolutely a wrong characterization. Our flight attendants are compensated for every single hour they work.”
Von Hoensbroech pointed to the federal government’s probe, saying the investigation concluded that flight attendants are compensated for every single hour they work.
“We used to credit them for all duty hours. Then our flight attendants wanted to move to a system that’s being used by our pilots, which is to to be credited for block hours, i.e. for hours when the airplane moves. So we agreed to it, 25 years ago. And as part of this we said, okay, we’ll double your hourly rate for each credit hour, and we will put in minimums … Even if you don’t fly, you still get compensated. Now they create a narrative that they’re only compensated for those block hours which is absolutely not true. Even if they don’t fly a single hour in a month, they still get paid full salary. So there’s a little bit of misleading the public here.”
He added: “Nevertheless, we want a contract that makes sense for our flight attendants. If they want a different way of crediting the hours, no problem at all. We will do what makes the most sense for flight attendants. We want a contract that works for flight attendants.”
