MONTREAL, March 6 (Reuters) - Canada's WestJet Airlines WJA.TO must change its hiring strategy for the company's newbargain carrier, Swoop, an Air Line Pilots Association executivesaid on Tuesday, citing a recent Canadian labor board order.
The country's second-largest carrier can no longer recruitits pilots through two-year leaves of absence to fly for Swoopand will have to rescind any existing offers, Rob McFadyen,chairman of WestJet's ALPA master executive council, said in atelephone interview.
ALPA, which is negotiating its first contract withCalgary-based WestJet, said the carrier was trying to bypass theunion by luring its own pilots to fly for Swoop under differentworking conditions. It was not immediately what conditions thepilots were being offered to fly for Swoop.
ALPA had argued that pilots who work for the new no-frillscarrier should have the same working conditions as those who flyWestJet planes, with the union arguing they should all have thesame contract. its March 2 order, seen by Reuters, the Canada IndustrialRelations Board, or CIRB, told WestJet to "rescind the offer ofa two-year leave of absence policy ... in order to fly forSwoop."
The decision risks complicating expansion plans byCalgary-based WestJet, which is growing its internationalnetwork while launching the no-frills carrier in June, raisinganalyst concerns.
WestJet spokeswoman Lauren Stewart said by email thatSwoop's launch remained on track and that the carrier "remainscommitted to engaging in constructive dialogue with" the pilots'union.
AltaCorp analyst Chris Murray said by email that it wasstill too early to determine the "impact this could have ontiming or costs, but certainly continues to add to thecomplexity."