WestJet taking steps to cope with 'unpredecented challenge'
WestJet taking steps to cope with 'unpredecented challenge'
Calgary-based WestJet says it is taking a "very measured" strategy in order to maintain services this summer, which includes a lighter summer travel schedule that the company introduced earlier this year.
The airline shared details of its summer travel strategy Thursday, a day after Air Canada said it would be cancelling flights to "avoid customer service shortfalls."
According to a statement on its website, WestJet said it was scheduled to operate at 21 per cent lower capacity this July as compared to July 2019.
"Our proactive efforts have been foundational to our summer planning and when comparing our current capacity to that of 2019, where we operated more than 700 flights a day, this summer we will operate 25 per cent fewer flights, averaging approximately 530 flights a day," the company wrote.
Some of the additional steps WestJet took to optimize its guests' experiences are hiring additional personnel, making sure guests are informed well in advance about any schedule changes, introducing technology to expedite check-in options among other efforts.
'BUSIEST TRAVEL WEEKEND'
The news of changes to flights comes as Canadians are looking to travel over the July 1 long weekend or what WestJet is calling "the busiest travel weekend" since COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.
"We have been working closely with our airport partners, third-party providers and the federal government to mitigate challenges."
WestJet CEO Alexis Von Hoensbroech says the situation is "unprecedented."
"The pandemic has been devastating for the entire industry. The industry has been down to less than 20 per cent of its normal demand for more than two years," he said.
"Now we are seeing a massive demand rebound, which is good on one end but it's no surprise that this is now causing operational challenges that we are now dealing with."
He says those challenges are happening all over the world and is sorry for any inconvenience it may cause Canadians who are travelling.
"I can just apologize like many other airline CEOs are as well that this is a very, very challenging time as demand is recovering.
"It's not just airlines, it's many, many parts of the travel chain that are dealing with the same challenges. Whether it is airports, suppliers, government agencies. If just one of the pieces of this chain won't work, you see ripple effects through the entire chain."
For further information on WestJet flights, including schedules and flight status, you can go to their website.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
The next time the Bank of Canada raises interest rates on the scheduled date of September 7, 2022, it could potentially trigger a recession. Although there may be a chance that we don’t enter into a recession and the BoC is still hoping for a soft landing, it’s best to be prepared. Contributor Christopher Liew explains how.
Explosions and fires ripped through an ammunition depot in Russia-annexed Crimea on Tuesday in the second suspected Ukrainian attack on the peninsula in just over a week, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people.
One-quarter of front line employees surveyed at Canada's border agency said they had directly witnessed a colleague discriminate against a traveller in the previous two years.
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada Karina Gould is discouraging people from making fake travel plans just to skip the line of those waiting for passports.
As heat waves become more common and extreme due to the effects of climate change, the data centres that provide the backbone for the online services the public relies on are at risk of overheating.
Two of the people behind an accusation of political interference in the investigation of the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia will be before a House of Commons committee Tuesday.
Some energy experts warn a deal to sell Canadian hydrogen to Germany will serve as only a small, far-off and expensive part of the solution to Europe's energy crisis.
The government of Alberta is looking to draw skilled workers from Toronto and Vancouver to the province and launched its recruitment campaign Monday morning.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
A Vancouver couple was in awe and a bit scared during an hours-long encounter with a whale on B.C.'s Central Coast, much of which they captured on video.
The Saint John Police Force says skeletal remains found in a remote area of the city’s east end Friday belong to 32-year-old Kyle Richard Leblanc, who was reported missing in December of 2020.
Two of the people behind an accusation of political interference in the investigation of the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia will be before a House of Commons committee Tuesday.
At about noon, Colchester County District RCMP responded to a report of a man exposing himself after approaching two children on a trail behind an elementary school on Salmon River Road.
A fishing boat that sank with nearly 10,000 litres of fuel on board near the Canada-U.S. marine border went down in one of the worst possible places for endangered orcas, an ocean pollutants expert says. Peter Ross, a senior scientist with Raincoast Conservation Foundation, said the vessel sank in an important feeding area for endangered southern resident killer whales.
The daughters of a 60-year-old Vancouver Island man who was found dead in his home in 2019 are suing the Correctional Service of Canada, claiming negligent prison officials allowed two men to escape from a minimum-security penitentiary and murder their father.
The man accused of killing Nanaimo, B.C., teenager Makayla Chang in 2017 has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Steven Bacon entered the guilty plea in a Nanaimo, B.C., courtroom Monday afternoon.
Toronto Pearson International Airport has shown signs of improvements in recent weeks, but a traveller and aviation expert says he was disheartened to see 'mountains' of bags and triple stacked security lines at the airport over the weekend.
The Ontario government says forest fires have dwindled dramatically this year compared with last year, when fires tore through a record amount of land in the province.
Quebec health authorities are launching another COVID-19 booster vaccination campaign on Monday, targeting people living in CHSLDs and private seniors' residences (RPAs). The recommended interval between baseline vaccination and a first booster dose is three months or more, while the suggested interval between each subsequent booster dose is five months or more.
Unionized bus drivers say children may have difficulty getting to school once the academic year starts if the Quebec government continues to refuse to increase funding.
With one week to go before the start of the new school year, the CSQ is concerned that some CEGEPs will be unable to offer certain services and even some courses due to a lack of staff.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
An Ottawa family has adopted two beagles that were among thousands freed from a facility in Virginia that was breeding them so they could be sold for drug experiments.
A proposed correctional facility in Kemptville, Ont. has some residents concerned about how it might change the look of their small town and they are taking steps to prevent it from happening.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
The next time the Bank of Canada raises interest rates on the scheduled date of September 7, 2022, it could potentially trigger a recession. Although there may be a chance that we don’t enter into a recession and the BoC is still hoping for a soft landing, it’s best to be prepared. Contributor Christopher Liew explains how.
Southern Manitoba municipalities are gearing up for fall elections, but in areas where the current mayor or reeve is not running, some communities could be short on candidates.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
A Regina-born actor will be making her superhero debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) this week, playing the lead role in "She Hulk: Attorney at Law"
