WestJet and CUPE reached a tentative mainline deal Monday and sent it to a ratification vote. [1] WestJet Encore's Q400s were never on that walkout. Different certificate, different agreement, different crew. [2] Tuesday does not change the metal.
The paper's Monday brief already said Encore kept turning while mainline died. A handshake in Calgary does not rewrite that. It also does not make an Encore segment salvage a mainline connection that still sits in residual cancel.
About 4,400 mainline attendants are the voters. [3] Encore cabin crew are not that ballot. Look for "operated by" before trusting a green map. A ticket sold as WestJet can still be a 737, a Q400, or partner metal.
The airline promised to restore service as details landed. [1] Restore is a mainline verb. Encore's verb, through the vote, is still flies.
Encore cabin crew sat on a separate notice-to-bargain this spring, not this walkout. [2] Tuesday's ratification circus is mainline's. Do not put Q400 passengers in it. A green regional map can sit beside a yellow trunk. That was true Sunday. It is still true through the vote.
-- THEO KAPLAN, San Francisco