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WestJet flight attendants are hoping their new status as unionized employees will bring changes to a system that currently compensates them only for time spent in the air.

For months, flight attendants at the Calgary-based airline have been raising concerns about their pay structure. While it is industry-wide practice to base cabin crew pay on the hours spent flying, most other airlines also provide some compensation for the time flight attendants spend on the ground doing tasks such as preparing airplanes for service or deplaning passengers.

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A flight attendant who spoke to the Canadian Press in March, on condition of anonymity, said WestJet does not compensate — meaning that a flight attendant earning a starting wage of just over $25 an hour who only spends half of an eight-hour workday in the air is essentially earning less than minimum wage.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees became the official bargaining agent for 3,000 WestJet flight attendants nationwide after being granted an interim order by the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The union had filed an application with the board on July 10 to represent the flight attendants after a majority signed cards stating they supported joining CUPE.