💋Catch Feelings, Not Flights✈️
Flight Attendants and the Undervalued Economics of Care
Update: July 30, 2026
The WestJet flight attendants have done something incredible. On July 15, 99.4% of them voted to strike. 97.3% turnout. They are ready to walk as early as August 2 if they don’t get a fair deal.
And what are they asking for?
Just to stop working 35 hours a month for free.
Thirty-five hours. Every month. Unpaid.
I love flight attendants. I love them because they keep us alive at 35,000 feet. I love them because they calm panicked passengers during all too common delays and irregularities, manage medical emergencies, and still smile while handing out snacks.
I love them because they do all of this while the rest of us assume their care is just part of their generous natures.
But care is not free. It never has been. And the fact that we expect it for nothing tells you everything about how we value feminized work in this society.
The video below has been seen over 9 million times. Canadians are paying attention.
We support these workers. Now it is time for WestJet to pay up.
Solidarity with the flight attendants!
Solidarity with every care worker!
And all my love to the friendly skies,
Jonathan Gibson Davis 💋xoxo
Original Post in Solidarity with Air Canada Flight Attendants:
August 30, 2025
As part of my study of economics, I’ve been learning about the care economy from Eco Team 4: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eco-team-4_the-care-economy-is-the-everything-economy-activity-7338929693385027587-kJAA
And from my perspective working in aviation and pandemic response, I daresay that the flight attendants are part of the undervalued care economy that sustains all our lives.
Flight attendants care, I know it.
Is it because of their caring generous natures that we neglect their compensation?
I daresay, it is because we assume the caring generosity of spirit flight attendants embody is something all women should aspire to without compensation.
I daresay, it is because the job involves feminine care, even for men who take on this role.
It is because of our cultural expectation of free emotional labour and feminine care that we underpay Flight Attendants, Nurses, Personal Support Workers, Early Childhood Educators and Teachers.
I stand with the Air Canada Flight Attendants in their strike action.
Solidarity Forever!
Jonathan Gibson Davis
Trainee Pilot & Federal Nominee for Kanata & Bells Corners