Has WJ updated/extended their "flexible change/cancel guidelines?
Last mention is:
Due to the impact of the storm, a travel advisory has been posted on WestJet.com and flexible change/cancel guidelines have been announced for all WestJet flight only bookings for travel between August 5 and August 8, 2024.
I can think of a lot of situations where people would be happy to just fly out/return a bit later once things settle down. Maybe WJ's been losing too many Basic fares that were going to no-show, couldn't cancel and previously won the lottery at getting a credit/refund.
Though they earn some profit if they can squeeze e.g. 4 flights of pax into 3 (or soak up indirect routes that weren't full) with a "sorry, little/no comp, not-controllable!".
And more arm-chair speculation: maybe their insurance covers some kinds of damages/liability and not others re: weather damage, so it makes sense to cancel with pax in limbo rather than let pax get a refund/rebook. Ooooor they've got it all handled-ish with the replacement aircraft.