WestJet flight change irks local passengers
Nov 9, 2017, 8:34 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 12
WestJet flight change irks local passengers
Nov 9, 2017, 10:41 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: YVR
Programs: Erstwhile Accidental AC E35K
Posts: 2,918
"We're held ransom by WestJet," said Elmira's Mary Jane Lennox, who has used the flight for the past 10 years to visit family in Calgary.
It's a 56 minute drive to YYZ according to Google maps, which is about the same as Coquitlam to YVR. Don't sweat the small stuff.
Nov 9, 2017, 11:30 pm
#3
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
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I love how people are whining about how a corporation actually wants to increase its profits.
"Somebody got their spreadsheet out and decided they could make a few extra bucks," said Duncan.
Critics complain that WestJet, a company with annual sales of $4.1 billion, made the change to squeeze more revenue out of its fleet by not having planes sit idle overnight.
Nov 10, 2017, 7:44 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: YYG
Programs: airlines and hotels and rental cars - oh my!
Posts: 3,000
If these passengers really want to fly mid-day, as Sopwith notes they can drive to YYZ in under an hour easily ... actually, more like 45 minutes because by then there will be no traffic whatsoever.
The ones who really get stung by this kind of change are the ground staff, who work the arriving flight at midnight then have to see the 6:15 am departure on its merry way. I'm not sure what happens in between but I don't see the point of hanging around a tiny little airport with zero facilities all night. Yet if they go home, it's only for perhaps a maximum of three hours before they're headed back to work. That's pretty tough. But increasingly, at smaller stations like YKF, YHM and YYG, it's the only way the airline can maintain the service at all.
The ones who really get stung by this kind of change are the ground staff, who work the arriving flight at midnight then have to see the 6:15 am departure on its merry way. I'm not sure what happens in between but I don't see the point of hanging around a tiny little airport with zero facilities all night. Yet if they go home, it's only for perhaps a maximum of three hours before they're headed back to work. That's pretty tough. But increasingly, at smaller stations like YKF, YHM and YYG, it's the only way the airline can maintain the service at all.
Nov 10, 2017, 9:08 am
#5
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Vancouver
Programs: Aeroplan, Mileage Plus, WestJet Gold, AMEX Plat
Posts: 2,026
If these passengers really want to fly mid-day, as Sopwith notes they can drive to YYZ in under an hour easily ... actually, more like 45 minutes because by then there will be no traffic whatsoever.
The ones who really get stung by this kind of change are the ground staff, who work the arriving flight at midnight then have to see the 6:15 am departure on its merry way. I'm not sure what happens in between but I don't see the point of hanging around a tiny little airport with zero facilities all night. Yet if they go home, it's only for perhaps a maximum of three hours before they're headed back to work. That's pretty tough. But increasingly, at smaller stations like YKF, YHM and YYG, it's the only way the airline can maintain the service at all.
The ones who really get stung by this kind of change are the ground staff, who work the arriving flight at midnight then have to see the 6:15 am departure on its merry way. I'm not sure what happens in between but I don't see the point of hanging around a tiny little airport with zero facilities all night. Yet if they go home, it's only for perhaps a maximum of three hours before they're headed back to work. That's pretty tough. But increasingly, at smaller stations like YKF, YHM and YYG, it's the only way the airline can maintain the service at all.
Nov 10, 2017, 1:21 pm
#6
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YYC, Canada
Programs: AC 35k
Posts: 1,898
Yes, WS changed for the winter schedule to push flights to YKF and YXU to red-eyes from YYC and back early in the AM, presumably to get those planes back to YYC for other flights.
For all of you saying drive to YYZ, it's a major hassle when you have a local airport that provides this service to go. YXU is 2 hours away and YKF an hour, and the parking and security hassles alone add at least 30 minutes on top of that, maybe an hour, and with higher cost. No one living in these communities wants to do that, and if you lived there you'd get it (as opposed to being in your YYZ and YVR hubs). Having had to travel a ton from YXU in the past (I'm YYC based now) I can tell you - major hassle.
For all of you saying drive to YYZ, it's a major hassle when you have a local airport that provides this service to go. YXU is 2 hours away and YKF an hour, and the parking and security hassles alone add at least 30 minutes on top of that, maybe an hour, and with higher cost. No one living in these communities wants to do that, and if you lived there you'd get it (as opposed to being in your YYZ and YVR hubs). Having had to travel a ton from YXU in the past (I'm YYC based now) I can tell you - major hassle.
Nov 10, 2017, 2:15 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Delta, BC
Posts: 1,646
Yes, WS changed for the winter schedule to push flights to YKF and YXU to red-eyes from YYC and back early in the AM, presumably to get those planes back to YYC for other flights.
For all of you saying drive to YYZ, it's a major hassle when you have a local airport that provides this service to go. YXU is 2 hours away and YKF an hour, and the parking and security hassles alone add at least 30 minutes on top of that, maybe an hour, and with higher cost. No one living in these communities wants to do that, and if you lived there you'd get it (as opposed to being in your YYZ and YVR hubs). Having had to travel a ton from YXU in the past (I'm YYC based now) I can tell you - major hassle.
For all of you saying drive to YYZ, it's a major hassle when you have a local airport that provides this service to go. YXU is 2 hours away and YKF an hour, and the parking and security hassles alone add at least 30 minutes on top of that, maybe an hour, and with higher cost. No one living in these communities wants to do that, and if you lived there you'd get it (as opposed to being in your YYZ and YVR hubs). Having had to travel a ton from YXU in the past (I'm YYC based now) I can tell you - major hassle.
Does YKF and YXU (or the respective communities) subsidize WestJet to provide service? If not, Westjet will schedule to make best use of their fleet - if the schedule doesn't work for people and loads drop it will vanish altogether.
Nov 10, 2017, 3:41 pm
#8
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YYC, Canada
Programs: AC 35k
Posts: 1,898
YXU is fine, because WS has Encore to YYZ if you needed to do it and AC provides several flights a day. YKF is in a tougher spot.
Nov 10, 2017, 6:35 pm
#9
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Westjet Platinum, Fairmont Platinum RIP, Accor Gold, Marriott Lifetime Silver, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,296
I avoid red-eyes if I can, so my most recent trip to YVR had me fly out of YYZ (1 hour drive) instead of YHM (20 minute drive). It's a tossup for me, parking is more expensive at YYZ, but I do enjoy access to the priority screening line, and I can visit the lounge if I have too much time to kill. They had more flight options in and out of YHM in the summer time, especially for the return. I imagine those planes are used for other sunny destinations during the winter season. I'd love more flights in and out of YHM, and I guess WestJet does have some future plans here with a LCC, but I'm unsure whether the upcoming Swoop will offer attractive options for me as a business traveler out of YHM.
Nov 11, 2017, 8:06 am
#10
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YYC, Canada
Programs: AC 35k
Posts: 1,898
I avoid red-eyes if I can, so my most recent trip to YVR had me fly out of YYZ (1 hour drive) instead of YHM (20 minute drive). It's a tossup for me, parking is more expensive at YYZ, but I do enjoy access to the priority screening line, and I can visit the lounge if I have too much time to kill. They had more flight options in and out of YHM in the summer time, especially for the return. I imagine those planes are used for other sunny destinations during the winter season. I'd love more flights in and out of YHM, and I guess WestJet does have some future plans here with a LCC, but I'm unsure whether the upcoming Swoop will offer attractive options for me as a business traveler out of YHM.
Nov 11, 2017, 8:33 am
#11
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YHZ/YQM
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 1,618
If demand exists for a daytime flight then maybe Flair will step in. Or AC (lol). Airlines are under no obligation to provide any specific service. Sometimes people forget this. I wish that there was still a direct flight YHZ-YQB. I really wish there were a direct YHZ-DKR to cut the travel time to visit my sister by 70%. But if wishes were fishes...
Nov 11, 2017, 4:16 pm
#12
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: YYG
Programs: airlines and hotels and rental cars - oh my!
Posts: 3,000
For all of you saying drive to YYZ, it's a major hassle when you have a local airport that provides this service to go. YXU is 2 hours away and YKF an hour, and the parking and security hassles alone add at least 30 minutes on top of that, maybe an hour, and with higher cost. No one living in these communities wants to do that, and if you lived there you'd get it (as opposed to being in your YYZ and YVR hubs). Having had to travel a ton from YXU in the past (I'm YYC based now) I can tell you - major hassle.
Nov 13, 2017, 5:15 pm
#13
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YYC, Canada
Programs: AC 35k
Posts: 1,898
I live in the suburbs. YHM is much, much closer than YYZ and my travel there would go against the traffic, making it even more painless. But I wind up driving in to YYZ because YHM, like YKF, doesn't have many flights. It's not that much of a hassle, especially compared to the weird schedules that result from trying to make the little airport work.
Jan 9, 2018, 7:13 pm
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 12
Update!
WestJet decides to change YYC>YKF schedule.
https://www.therecord.com/news-story...-into-breslau/
WestJet decides to change YYC>YKF schedule.
https://www.therecord.com/news-story...-into-breslau/