WestJet and Lufthansa Technik to open $120M Calgary engine repair facility

WestJet has announced a multibillion-dollar, 15-year commercial agreement with German aircraft services firm Lufthansa Technik to establish a new aircraft engine maintenance facility at Calgary International Airport. The project is expected to create up to 160 new jobs in Calgary by 2030.

Key highlights of the project:

• Largest maintenance deal in WestJet’s history: The agreement marks the biggest long-term contract in the airline’s 30-year operations.
• Strengthening Calgary’s aviation industry: The facility will make Calgary a hub for aircraft engine servicing in North America.
• Expansion of Lufthansa Technik’s presence: The German firm will increase its North American footprint by operating the Calgary facility.

Additional details

The $120 million facility, to be built by the Calgary Airport Authority, is scheduled to begin operations in 2027. It will focus on servicing LEAP 1-B engines used in WestJet’s Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

• On-wing repairs and full performance restorations will be conducted in Calgary.
• Major overhauls will continue at Lufthansa Technik’s main facility in Hamburg, Germany.
• Fleet growth: WestJet currently operates around 50 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, but this number is expected to exceed 130 by the end of the decade.

Economic and strategic impact

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech highlighted the benefits of the new facility, emphasizing that it will improve efficiency, reduce turnaround times, and provide cost certainty by keeping engine maintenance within Calgary, the airline’s global hub.

Terry Duguid, the federal minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, called the project a “game changer,” pointing to key advantages, including local maintenance and lower costs and emissions.

The project is backed by funding from the federal and provincial governments, Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, Calgary Economic Development, Calgary International Airport, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

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Carefully review your new employment contract

Before starting a new job in Alberta, it’s very likely that you will be asked to sign an employment contract.

In many cases, these agreements take away key protections that would otherwise be available to non-unionized workers. Your employer might attempt to limit your severance package to a few weeks’ pay, or add a clause that gives them the ability to make significant changes to your job.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• Changes to your job in Alberta: What employees need to know
• Catalent layoffs hit 300 workers, part of acquisition restructuring
• Severance Pay Calculator Alberta

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains the five things workers need to know about employment contracts on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Once you receive an employment contract, take the time to carefully review it. Your boss can’t legally force you to accept it immediately or a few short days after receiving it.

If you are unsure about anything in the contract, contact an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP. We can review the agreement and ensure that your workplace rights are properly protected.

LEARN MORE
• Starting a new job? Here’s how an employment contract could limit your rights
• ’60 days or more’: Is it an enforceable termination clause?
• Employment Law Show: Things to never do before seeking legal counsel

You might have to complete a probationary period

In Canada, employment contracts often contain a “probation clause” that requires non-unionized employees to complete a probationary period when they start working for a new company. If your employer doesn’t indicate the existence of a probationary period in your agreement, it won’t be considered “valid” or “in effect.”

While employees are usually put on probation for three months, it’s not uncommon for probationary periods to remain in effect for six months or more.

Fired during your probationary period?

If you are fired or let go before the probationary period ends, the company may still owe you a severance package. Your entitlements depend on what you agreed to in the employment contract.

However, if you are terminated after a legitimate three-month probationary period, your employer is required to provide you with working notice or pay in lieu of notice (i.e. severance pay).

LEARN MORE
• Employment Law Show: Probationary periods and termination
• Edmonton employee fired during probation for violating office dress code
• Wrongful dismissal in Canada: Your rights

Severance pay considerations

Before changing jobs in Canada, you need to consider future severance possibilities.

While a severance package can be as much as 24 months’ pay, compensation for non-unionized employees, including those who work for Boralex, is calculated using several factors, including:

• Age
• Position at the company
• Length of service
• Ability to find new work

If you quit your current job, you may not be owed severance

In most cases, non-unionized workers in Alberta don’t get a severance package if they resign from their position voluntarily to take up employment elsewhere. Severance is designed to provide employees with financial support while they look for new work after being fired without cause or let go.

However, if you are forced to leave because of unwanted changes to your job, it’s very likely that you could treat it as a constructive dismissal. In this situation, the law allows you to resign and pursue full severance pay.

If you believe that you have been constructively dismissed, don’t quit your job until you speak with an experienced Alberta employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

• ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Can I negotiate my own Alberta severance package?

Your length of service affects your severance entitlements

If you are fired without cause or let go, a key factor in determining how much severance pay you are owed is your length of service.

• Example: If you worked at a company for 14 years and decide to take a new job elsewhere that you sought out on your own, you forfeit the severance entitlements you built up with your previous employer. As a result, if you are fired without cause or let go shortly after joining the new business, you could receive very little compensation.

However, there are situations where short-service employees are owed significantly more severance pay than they realize. If your employer fires you without cause, and you have only been with the company for three years or less, don’t accept your severance offer before contacting our firm.

As long as you didn’t sign the offer and send it back to your boss, you have two years from the date of your dismissal to pursue full severance pay. We can review the offer and help you secure the compensation that you are legally entitled to.

SEE ALSO 
• I already accepted a severance package, what should I do?
• Do I have to look for a new job after getting fired?
• Employment Law Show: Facts about the termination process

Recruited by another company?

In some cases, non-unionized workers in Canada leave their current job after being actively recruited by another company. If your new employer took documented steps to entice you to take up employment with them, this is known as inducement.

In the event that the company decides to terminate you shortly after pulling you away from your previous employer, the inducement should be taken into consideration when determining your severance entitlements.

• Example: Company X entices you to leave your current job to come work for them. If you are terminated shortly after making the switch, the company may be on the hook for enhanced severance pay because of the pressure it placed on you to leave your previous employer.

If this situation applies to you, don’t sign your severance offer until it’s been reviewed by a member of our team.

We can confirm that the inducement has been properly factored into your severance package and help you secure the compensation you deserve if it isn’t.

Starting a new job? Speak to an employment lawyer

Before signing a new employment contract, have the experienced employment law team at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review the agreement to make sure your workplace rights are protected.

Our lawyers in Alberta, B.C., and Ontario have successfully represented tens of thousands of non-unionized individuals. We can help you better understand the terms of the contract and advise you on how best to navigate the situation.