Air Canada has waded into labour issues at rival WestJet, promising to help get customers to their destination in the event of a strike at the airline. It's a repeat of the stunt that WestJet pulled on Air Canada back in 2011, when Air Canada was facing a looming strike of its own. "We will be ready with extra flights in the event of a strike," WestJet said at the time, promising to add more flights and increase capacity as much as it could in the event of a strike at its much bigger, unionized rival. For its part, WestJet management is downplaying the prospect of a strike this time, saying such a vote is a "common step" in negotiations. WestJet agreed late Thursday afternoon to 14 straight days of negotiations starting Friday, the Air Line Pilots Association said.

Source: CBC News April 26, 2018 19:52 UTC