A wildcat job action by workers who refuel aircraft has delayed or cancelled dozens of flights to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport on Friday.

“We are experiencing some delays and cancellations due to discussions between the airlines and the aircraft fueling company,” the airport said on its webpage. “Please check with your airline regarding flight information before proceeding to the airport.”

Delays of more than four hours were reported on Friday morning and flight delays and cancellations could get far worse throughout the day for various airlines using the airport.

As the disruption extended late into Friday afternoon, Air Canada issued a tweet announcing that change fees would be waived for flights on July 3, 4, and 5. This follows an announcement from earlier today allowing changes to Friday flights to be made without charge.

Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said the implementation of a “flexible rebooking policy” is among several practices put in place to ameliorate the problems caused by the job action.

Aircrafts are being filled with extra fuel “so that they can get to Toronto and on to their next stop,” Fitzpatrick explained.

In addition, “departing aircrafts are making technical stops,” taking off with lower than normal fuel levels and stopping along the way to their destination to refuel, in an effort to minimize the time spent refueling at Pearson, said Fitzpatrick.

Afternoon shift workers have several different start times — 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m., said Bill Trbovich, a spokesperson for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said in an interview.

At 4 p.m. on Friday, another 5 workers arrived for their shift, bringing the total up to 22 out of the 56 people who had been scheduled to work.

Trbovich said another group is scheduled to come in at 9 p.m. These employees, who work overnight, are responsible for refuelling the planes that are scheduled to leave before 11 p.m. tonight, and first thing tomorrow morning.

The union has not received any indication that those workers will not show, but can't say for certain what will happen tonight or tomorrow.

The have warned workers, however, that they are in violation of their collective agreement and can be fined, said Trbovich.

The early shift workers who did report for work announced they will not work overtime to pick up the slack. “They’re going to refuse it.”

There were 47 fuelling workers scheduled to work on the morning shift Friday and 30 of them called in sick, Trbovich said.

Management personnel has tried to step in to do the jobs of the absent workers, Trbovich said.

“This is an illegal work stoppage,” Trbovich said. “Our people are frustrated. They’re afraid of losing their jobs.”

Jason Riley, 31, was travelling with his 7-year-old son Tristan, back home to Swift Current, Sask. It was to be the first time Tristan had ever flown, but he occupied himself playing a video game. His father had a hard time when he learned the 10:15 a.m. WestJet flight to Regina was cancelled. They had been there at 7 a.m., and now were offered a flight at 7:45 p.m. with a connection in Calgary that would put them in Regina at close to midnight.

Riley is a smoker and he was complaining that he had been without a cigarette for seven hours so went back out through security to get that puff before returning through security again.

Riley felt frustration for his mother, who had driven several hours from Swift Current to meet them in Regina. She would probably dig into her own pockets to buy a hotel room in Regina rather than drive back through the night when they arrived.

“She’s been up since 5 o’clock this morning,” Riley said. “It’s been just one chain reaction after another.”

“We didn’t get any word on the cancellation until literally right at the very last minute,” he said. “They boarded us and had us on the plane for an hour and a half until they asked us to get off... About 45 minutes after that was when we got our notice that our flight was cancelled and they sent us to talk to Customer Service at WestJet.

He complimented WestJet for their professional handling of the situation.

“When they rebooked us, they had us on opposite sides of the plane, and he’s only seven, and he’s not allowed to fly by himself, so the gentleman was nice enough to upgrade us to Calgary and then to Regina.”

Another passenger, Ross Millette, 54, was booked to fly to Regina on the same flight. He was supposed to report to work Friday night, and he’s not going to make it. He works three weeks on, one week off and he was home for a week in Port Elgin, Ont. He works at a potash mine outside of Regina. “I’m supposed to be there at 5 o’clock,” he said.

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He had no chance to inform his employer because he’s such a new employee he doesn't know the company's phone number which was in his checked baggage. “If I don’t get out tonight, I’ll have to get in tomorrow... it’s such a nuisance,” he said.

Another man, Angus Dyson, 65, and his wife, Lynne, were on their way to Regina to attend the noon wedding of his nephew on Saturday and were worried they wouldn’t make it. “We live in Toronto,” he said. “We’re not sweating yet, but it makes for a short day today. We don’t blame the airlines. It’s the guys that are on strike that are the problem.”

Said Lynne: “I just wished we knew about this yesterday and then we could have made other plans to go yesterday.”

Spencer and Caitlyn Hunt, another family whose travel plans have been derailed by the strike, were scheduled to board a connecting flight to Cleveland, having just arrived from Barcelona, where they were vacationing with family.

"Our flight was cancelled for no apparent reason--it wasn't weather-related," said Caitlyn, who wasn't told about the labour disruption affecting flights.

As soon as their original flight was cancelled, they were automatically booked for the next open flight to Cleveland, two days from now on July 5, she says.

The siblings also had the option of flying to the next-closest airport in Pittsburgh, but would not arrive there until tomorrow afternoon.

"Now, we're completely quitting," says Hunt. "We're just going to rent a car and drive to Cleveland."

They can't leave, however, until they're in possession of their luggage, and retrieving their bags amid the confusion has presented another challenge altogether.

"We were sent to like, seven different stations," says Caitlyn. "They were sending us here and there, and at one point, two people sent us to each other."

The Hunts were not sure whether or not they'd be getting a refund from Air Canada--they were told it would have had to be a weather-related emergency unless they had purchased insurance, which they did.

"Those are all questions we're going to be asking," says Spencer.

Later, around 3:30 p.m., a rousing cheer went up from stranded passengers at another gate when it was announced the WestJet flight to Edmonton was ready to board. They quickly got off the ground where they had been sitting or stretching out waiting for any news. It was a rare sign of joy on a day of confusion and interruption.

The wildcat action centres on job losses expected this fall as Consolidated Aviation Fueling of Toronto, a part of Allied Aviation, ends long-term contracts with workers at Pearson and Pierre-Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal, Trbovich said.

“This morning 60 per cent of our workers unexpectedly did not show up for work, causing disruptions for the travelling public,” read a statement from the Consolidated Aviation Fueling of Toronto (CAFTL) on Friday.

The company said, “The events observed today are, we believe, a worker led response to changes made by the air carriers which profoundly affect the aviation fuelling arrangement at Pearson Airport.”

CAFTL is the exclusive supplier of into-plane commercial-aviation fuelling services at Pearson Airport. They were informed that the agreement would end effective October 1, 2015, after which individual air carriers would independently procure their into-plane fuelling services, said the statement.

CAFTL said that they were “also notified that their company would not be retaining a significant portion of the fuelling services at Pearson.”

“These changes profoundly affect our business and the job security of our employees,” the statement read.

Aircraft Service International Group is set to take over fuelling services from Allied Aviation.

At least 250 of 300 workers involved in refuelling are due to lose their jobs on Oct. 1, Trbovich said.

Current fuel workers make between $17 and $24 hourly, while their replacements will make no more than $14 an hour, he said.

The union has argued that they were given a choice of taking a drastic pay cut and agreeing to a deterioration of working conditions or losing their jobs at Pearson and Trudeau airports.

Some of the workers due to lose their jobs have 40 years of experience, the union has said.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board is scheduled to hear the union’s unfair labour practices complaint on Sept. 9.

With files from Curtis Rush, Stephen Spencer Davis and Jackie Hong

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