WestJet Encore

WestJet Encore Pilots Build Unity and Increase Engagement

In 2025, WestJet Encore Master Executive Council (MEC) leaders set their sights on evolving the way they conduct business with respect to building unity during the pilots’ mid-contract period.

With a focus on improving pilot education, promoting transparency through consistent communications, and building on the group’s digital communications structure, the MEC provided the necessary tools for the pilots to become more engaged and united than in prior years.

This engagement was on full display in March 2025, when the pilots were informed their employer had received approval from the government to hire pilots through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), citing an inability to attract pilots to the airline.

The pilot group immediately began working with ALPA Canada leaders to utilize available resources such as internal and external legal counsel, government affairs representatives, and communications professionals.

During their advocacy campaign, the pilots noted they were deeply concerned that any airline would cite an inability to attract and retain Canadian aviators as the reason for hiring temporary foreign pilots to fill vacancies. The group was clear that the issue had been created by a management team that failed to address the very real issue of career progression and job security for WestJet Encore pilots.

Thanks to pilot unity and applied pressure, management changed course, opting not to pursue any pilots through the TFWP.

Capt. Carin Kenny, then the MEC chair who had worked tirelessly as an ALPA volunteer for nearly a decade, noted, “Despite the company withdrawing from the TFWP, the fact still remains that to truly fix the issues at Encore, there must be a reason for pilots to stay.”

Under Capt. Sam Harper, the new MEC chair, those discussions continue to take place.