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] Friday does not change the metal.
The paper's Thursday hold already said Encore kept turning through the vote. 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. Do not put Q400 passengers in a mainline ballot. Friday still requires the operated-by line before the map turns green.
Encore cabin crew sat on a separate notice-to-bargain this spring, not this walkout. Friday's ratification circus is mainline's. 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