'It's costing us a lot more money': Edmonton passengers react to cancelled flights ahead of possible WestJet strike

The WestJet counter at the YEG Edmonton International Airport on May 18, 2023.

Passengers at the Edmonton airport are already feeling the effects of a possible WestJet pilot strike.

The carrier cancelled more than 100 flights on Thursday after talks with the pilots' union hit a "critical impasse."

As of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, 10 WestJet flights scheduled to leave from YEG Edmonton International Airport had been cancelled.

Joel Orteja and his wife were scheduled to leave Edmonton for Cancun on Thursday morning.

The pair live in Mexico, and had come to Canada for a vacation.

"We're leaving today at 11 a.m., but the flight got cancelled. We waited for WestJet to answer me for like two hours, but we don’t have any answers yet," Orteja said, adding his wife must return to her job as a nurse by Monday, or she could face fines or lose her job.

Lawrence and Susan Hrycan also had their flight cancelled after they arrived at the airport.

They were scheduled to fly to London for a European vacation they've been planning for the last year.

"We just got an email from WestJet stating that our Calgary to Gatwick flight has been cancelled and we could go from Edmonton to Calgary, but no further. So we're just waiting to see what happens."

Hyrcan said in anticipation of the strike, they booked tickets with another carrier for Friday.

"We're not really smiling either, because it is costing us a lot more money. The flights are twice as much as what we had paid with WestJet."

Approximately 1,800 pilots at WestJet and its subsidiary Swoop will walk off the job at 3 a.m. MT on Friday if a deal can't be reached after the Air Line Pilots Association served strike notice on Monday.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk and The Canadian Press