Westjet
Economy Class
YXX-YYC (Abbotsford International Airport – Calgary International Airport)
WJ 450
November 5, 2016
Booked: Bombardier Q400
Flown: Boeing 737-600
Departure: 6:00 AM
Arrival: 8:20 AM
After a 3 AM wake up, we left the house at about 4 AM for the 40-minute drive to the Abbotsford International Airport. Abbotsford is a bedroom community; a suburb of Vancouver that is about 1 hr and 20 minutes drive from downtown. Westjet and Air Canada have attempted flights out of here over the last twenty years with only Westjet surviving with any real frequency. It was absolutely pouring with rain on the drive. It’s also worth nothing that at the time of this trip, it had rained in Vancouver for 26 out of the last 28 days so we were ready for some dry and sunny weather.
Abbotsford is so small, that there is usually only one flight departing at any one time. We parked the car at the front loading zone and were able to unload the luggage AND check in without worrying about being towed or being detected by an over zealous security guard. I can’t say that it’s always like that, but it was quiet enough at 4 AM that it wasn’t an issue at all. Abbotsford Airport is also a clean and bright facility, which has been spruced up since my last trip through here.
There were the usual three staff working on this date. We used one of the six kiosks (3 of which partially out of order and were unable to print baggage tags) and self tagged our bags. Westjet was quite strict on the weight and one of our fellow travelers had to re-pack when they were 6 lbs over to 50 lbs weight limit. The kiosk was offering upgrades to Plus; the Westjet business class equivalent in an economy seat with a blocked middle seat for this segment only for $50 per person. Yep – that clock reads 4:45 AM!
With only one restaurant in the public concourse area, we proceeded straight through security to the holding area. There was free wifi in the terminal.
There were only a few flights on the board today, with the furthest one being Puerto Vallarta by Westjet.
Westjet called boarding was called by zones. With seats in row 7 that were assigned at check in, we were in the last zone to be called.
We were scheduled to be on a Bombardier Q400, but they up gauged the plane as we got onto an older, and quite worn Boeing 737-600. For about 15 years, Westjet followed the Southwest model of having only Boeing 737 aircraft. They have recently branched out and acquired some used Boeing 767’s and some Bombarbier Q400’s for their smaller markets.
A photo of the plus seats on the way by. It’s certainly a seat that I can’t get too excited about but similar to the business class offering in Europe. The up charge to plus for our package was $1,100 CAD per person, although they were being sold at the kiosk for $50 CAD for this segment at check in.
We found our seats in Row 7.
We had a slow departure today. The poor ramp attendants on the apron must have gotten completely trenched as it was pouring with rain outside.
Along with the wet climb, we seemed to have a bit of sleeting snow on the way up. The departure spotlights from the plane lit the snow quite a bit for a cool effect.
There was free television today from the seat back monitors. I settled on something light.
There was a coffee and water service with pretzels and water offered. I was pretty sleepy so I didn’t partake.
We had a morning light landing in Calgary with a nice sunrise over clear skies.
We taxied to gate D70 in the brand new international terminal. We had carry on’s and for the first time in as long as I can remember, we were run over by mothers and grandmothers in the aisle as they pushed past us from rows behind us to get off the plane while we were bringing our carry ons’ down from the overhead bins. It made me long for the orderliness of the business travelers on Air Canada.
Overall, Westjet has a more cheerful attitude than the legacy carriers. Most of its employees own stock in the company and their motto is “Owners Care”. The compensation system really shows through in the service levels. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be catering to the business travelers all too much. As such, the flights are filled with family travelers, which can tend to make the seasoned traveler like my self a little irritated – especially on these 4 AM flights!