WestJet "Passenger Perks" - Early departure standard operating procedure?

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Today at YYZ after overcoming police roadblocks, a non-operating airport train, incompetant CATSA staff who don't understand "hurry" "late" and "urgent", I arrived at gate C39 at 9:05 pm for my 9:15 pm flight. I had no bags, I was already checked in online, and there was no one at the gate. I thought I arrived at the wrong gate but the TV still said "OTTAWA 9:15 pm". I looked out the window and the jet bridge was being pulled back. Once the plane started to get pushed back an agent came out of the gate/bridge area and said that the captain decided to leave early. Is it not worth westjet's time and energy to wait until 9:15 pm to close the doors when a departure is scheduled at 9:15 pm? Do they not care that I'm checked in and it's the last flight of the day? Seems pretty ignorant to me. So anyways, I'm out of pocket $100 to stay here overnight and I will ask to have the plane depart 10 min early tomorrow morning.

Wow! On behalf of all of my fellow Westjet employees, I do want to sincerely apologize for your inconvenience! I encourage you to check the Westjet website concerning check in rules. From the Flight Attendant's perspective, who has nothing to do with checkins, I do believe that when you web check in that you aren't considered to be physically at the airport at the time of check in. When final boarding calls are made and pages for the missing guests are made with no show of said web check in guest, it seems that the doors are shut under the general assumption that the guest is indeed a no show. And when the doors are shut and the bridge is pulled away, the aircraft can't be rebridged except in the case of an emergency or a technical problem. Having said that, the Customer Service Agent shouldn't have said "The Captain decided to leave early." Unfortunately, you did have a string of bad luck getting to the airport, and that does happen and it stinks. Again, I am sorry that you were inconvenienced.

Having said that, the Customer Service Agent shouldn't have said "The Captain decided to leave early."

Of course not, it should have been something that blames the passenger.

Departing early isn't unusual when:

- all seats are filled
- all booked passengers have been boarded
- required time to be present at gate has passed

You missed the last one, which sucks, but you technically were a no-show. Given the circumstances, did Westjet offer any assistance other than re-booking for next available flight?

I've missed last-flight-of-the-day on AC due to an incoming pilot/gate/communication screw-up and was informed that the connecting flights had been requested to wait. Well, they didn't, which isn't so bad, but the gate agents weren't even aware of why a half-dozen or so connecting passengers from my incoming flight didn't show so obviously the "request" was appeasement not reality.

Sorry about that, friend,

According to westJet.com, checked-in guests should be seated onboard tenminutes prior to departure. After ten minutes prior, guests not boarded forfeit their right to their confirmed seat. Doors on that particular flight didn't infact close until 2110 - five minutes behind the legal cutoff. And according to the time automatically uploaded to Flite Trac from the onboard computers, the aircraft pushed back from the gate at 2111 - ahead of schedule but only four minutes - but with all check-in and on-time-boarded-folk in their seats.

Did you have to pay the usual late show fee and travel standby, or were you rebooked as a courtesy? Hopefully there was a little flexibility...

I've missed last-flight-of-the-day on AC due to an incoming pilot/gate/communication screw-up and was informed that the connecting flights had been requested to wait. Well, they didn't, which isn't so bad, but the gate agents weren't even aware of why a half-dozen or so connecting passengers from my incoming flight didn't show so obviously the "request" was appeasement not reality.

I am sure this is not the case on all AC flights, but my experience of taking the last YYC-YQR flight of the night quite a bit this winter is that the plane has been held to await connecting passengers everytime (I was late twice myself on a connection from a US flight and ran all the way to the gate, gratefully got on board and then waited another 15-20 minutes for other passengers to show up). There are cases when a late flight cannot be held due to the danger of a crew going overtime and the whole flight having to be cancelled too.

In the case of the OP, for sure some bad luck was involved but I don't see that WJ can be faulted.

Departing early isn't unusual when:

- all seats are filled
- all booked passengers have been boarded
- required time to be present at gate has passed

You missed the last one, which sucks, but you technically were a no-show. Given the circumstances, did Westjet offer any assistance other than re-booking for next available flight?

I've missed last-flight-of-the-day on AC due to an incoming pilot/gate/communication screw-up and was informed that the connecting flights had been requested to wait. Well, they didn't, which isn't so bad, but the gate agents weren't even aware of why a half-dozen or so connecting passengers from my incoming flight didn't show so obviously the "request" was appeasement not reality.

1. YYZ/YOW flights are around 3/4 full so there were empty seats for sure.
2. Myself being a booked (and checked-in) passenger was not able to board.
3. No assistance offered other than to rebook for free for next morning's 7 am or 8 am flight. I did this over the phone as I didn't want to leave the secure area to go to the ticket counter just yet.

Sorry about that, friend,

According to westJet.com, checked-in guests should be seated onboard tenminutes prior to departure. After ten minutes prior, guests not boarded forfeit their right to their confirmed seat. Doors on that particular flight didn't infact close until 2110 - five minutes behind the legal cutoff. And according to the time automatically uploaded to Flite Trac from the onboard computers, the aircraft pushed back from the gate at 2111 - ahead of schedule but only four minutes - but with all check-in and on-time-boarded-folk in their seats.

Did you have to pay the usual late show fee and travel standby, or were you rebooked as a courtesy? Hopefully there was a little flexibility...

No that's not true, the jetway was visually moving at 2107 Rogers Blackberry time, which means the cabin door was shut at 2105 or 2106, and consequently the airport gate security door was shut (and the agent left his desk) at 2103 or 2104. Which is still early. Even if the tow truck started moving at 2111, that's still 4 minutes ahead of schedule, and with even 3 minutes I could have made it on board.

An agent over the phone rebooked me for free, but I wouldn't expect anything less.

I am sure this is not the case on all AC flights, but my experience of taking the last YYC-YQR flight of the night quite a bit this winter is that the plane has been held to await connecting passengers everytime (I was late twice myself on a connection from a US flight and ran all the way to the gate, gratefully got on board and then waited another 15-20 minutes for other passengers to show up). There are cases when a late flight cannot be held due to the danger of a crew going overtime and the whole flight having to be cancelled too.



Oh I've experienced AC planes being held for connecting passengers too. It is just in this case that they stated on-board the late gating (it arrived a bit late but went to the wrong gate area) aircraft that they had requested that connecting flights be held. I got to the gate 5 minutes after scheduled departure, the plane was gone and off the board already. It probably left early. My luggage wouldn't have made the connection but I might have.

Closing the gate 10 minutes before departure is pretty standard amongst all airlines. Sorry you missed your flight ... it's particularly annoying when you are so close to catching it.

According to WestJet's rules, you were a no-show and should have been charged $65 to rebook your flight. It was nice of them to do it for free, and I've found WestJet's agents to be very flexible about this, but it's important to remember that they don't have to.

No that's not true, the jetway was visually moving at 2107 Rogers Blackberry time, which means the cabin door was shut at 2105 or 2106, and consequently the airport gate security door was shut (and the agent left his desk) at 2103 or 2104. Which is still early. Even if the tow truck started moving at 2111, that's still 4 minutes ahead of schedule, and with even 3 minutes I could have made it on board.

An agent over the phone rebooked me for free, but I wouldn't expect anything less.

Just out of curiosity, is it possible that the Blackberry was showing the time incorrectly ? Does the Blackberry update time automatically, or is it like my normal Rogers cellphone where the time has to be set ?

Or is it possible that the onboard computer on the WS plane was giving the incorrect time ? How do these computers keep their time correct ?

I realize we are only talking about a couple of minutes here, but a couple of minutes can make the difference between catching a flight and not getting on the plane.

I, also feel your pain, and cellphones and airport times don't neccessarialy coincide. In fact the clocks at the calgary airport on floor 3 show a different time than floor two which is usually 2 or 3 minutes ahead of my cell phone which displays network time (rogers). That being said, there is no guarantee that the time the airport is running on will neccessarialy coincide with your actual clock.

Toronto is about 2 minutes behind my cell time and Halifax is spot-on.

As for missing the flight, it is the guest's responsibility to be physically present AT THE GATE 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure time. Since you are a web check in guest there is no way to actually account for your whereabouts and you were considered a no show once all of the other guests had boarded the aircraft and a correct count of "bums in seats" was provided to the CSA.


as for CNX guests, if it is Westjet's fault that a guest is late for their connecting flight (perhaps their first wesjet flight was delayed in leaving or had very strong headwinds on the way to the destination) 95% of the time they will hold the departing flight so the guest can make it. (as it is Westjet's fault) however in this guest's case, he was on his way to the airport for his first flight.

Unfortunately you ran into a lot of bad luck, however, as a general rule of thumb you ahouls always be present at the airport Min. 1 hour prior to departure to give yourself time to get through security, lineups and such.

Sorry to hear about your frustration

As for missing the flight, it is the guest's responsibility to be physically present AT THE GATE 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure time. Since you are a web check in guest there is no way to actually account for your whereabouts and you were considered a no show once all of the other guests had boarded the aircraft and a correct count of "bums in seats" was provided to the CSA.

I am never at the gate 30 minutes in advance. Neither is the plane, in many cases.

The cut-off is 10 minutes before departure.

I am never at the gate 30 minutes in advance. Neither is the plane, in many cases.

The cut-off is 10 minutes before departure.

i urge you to follow the link or copy/paste the address to the actual article which i have quoted below.

it is not a suggestion(<the following quoted text). Boarding commences 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure (unless the flight is delayed obviously)

"WestJet guests are required to be through security and customs, if applicable and at their departure gate 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of their flight. Guests arriving at the gate less than 10 minutes prior to departure risk losing their reserved seat."
source>> https://c3dsp.westjet.com/guest/travelTips.jsp#checkinMethods

of course it's oipen to interperetation, but seriously.. why would you risk losing your seat by getting there TEN MINUTES prior to departure? That's pretty silly

What's the point of saying you are "required" to be there 30 minutes prior when you don't get penalized until it's 10 minutes prior. What if I stop for a leak and arrive at the gate 25 minutes prior? And what's the point of having a 10 minute rule when the plane is being pushed back already, meaning it really was cut-off 12-15 minutes prior?

the 10 minute rule is probably to account for 5minute early pushbacks as a flight generally isnt allowed to leave more than 5 early for most large airports... in my experiance.

in any case,, who in their right mind would come right at the ten minute mark? seems a little crazy to me. Anything can happen. the point is, Westjet's policy is that you as the guest are responsible to be through security 30 minutes prior to departure. Any less than that then you're at the mercy of "fate" lol.

I also think it is because the CSA's at the gate begin checking the loads and the manifest around 30-prior to sked departure and thats when they call people up for boarding issues, or to clear standby guests and such.

Mind you i work behind that sealed metal door within the tube, i am not a CSA and only have general knowledge of how things are done by CSA's

i understand traffic, and the non perational train (which... is operating now) but theres also parking right at terminal 3.

.... early pushbacks as a flight generally isnt allowed to leave more than 5 early for most large airports...

What rule is this?

What i mean by that is we're generally not allowed to leave any more than 5 minutes early for large airports (ESP. Pearson YYZ) usually if we call in to ask to go 10 early, we're denied and told 5 early max.

Happens a lot, like when we have light loads and everyone boards well within the alotted boarding time and we want to get out 10 early but can't.

I'm not saying that it is a "Rule" it's just... what happens?

usually if we call in to ask to go 10 early, we're denied and told 5 early max.

Are you calling WS dispatch and asking to go early or someone else?

Are you calling WS dispatch and asking to go early or someone else?

Dispatch. I remind you I am not a CSA or a Pilot, just a flight attendant. We're normally told "okay were going 5early or were going 10 early"
and were like *shrug* okay?