In advance of the highly anticipated holiday travel season, WestJet is sharing key improvements made across its operation in preparation for Canada’s unpredictable winter weather and the busiest travel season of the year.
“Following a tumultuous summer, we are proud to have returned our operations to stability this fall, getting back to our mission of delivering affordable, reliable and guest friendly service as we connect our guests to the people and places they love most,” said Diederik Pen, President of WestJet Airlines and Chief Operating Officer, WestJet Group. “As we head into winter and the holidays, we’ve made substantial investments in our people, technology and equipment to enhance our preparedness for winter across our operation.”
Cold weather defense: Investments in winter resiliency
WestJet is bolstering its operation to improve resiliency against extreme cold temperatures, through the following investments:
12 additional thermodynamic heaters have been purchased to support winter operations at WestJet's global hub in Calgary, ensuring aircraft remain warm, safe, and operational in freezing temperatures;
increased storage at both Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Edmonton International Airport (YEG) will keep operational equipment warm and ready for use;
arctic kits have been installed on baggage and cargo loading equipment to improve performance in subzero conditions;
expanded staffing and streamlined equipment have been deployed to enhance aircraft towing capacity, ensuring swift turnaround times during winter operations;
upgraded bridges and heaters at domestic airports across the WestJet network will further support winter operations.
Proactive fleet and schedule preparations
In the event of irregular operations or disruption, WestJet is proactively positioning its fleet and crew to best serve its guests by:
Operating a strategically designed flying schedule to best reduce guest impact in the event unexpected events such as cold weather occur;
allocating multiple spare aircraft throughout the holiday and winter season to support potential flight disruptions;
hiring 20 Aircraft Maintenance Engineers and actively recruiting to enhance the Technical Operations team’s capacity to support required fleet maintenance;
leveraging six of WestJet's recently acquired Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to bolster fleet capacity by operating as spares and maintaining capacity to avoid cancellations in the event of irregular operations.
Automatic rebooking for guests
Utilizing new software, guests impacted by a flight disruption will receive faster reaccomodation and communication to ensure they arrive at their chosen destination as seamlessly as possible.
New onboard enhancements for a seamless travel experience
WestJet has made a variety of updates to its inflight service offerings to ensure a more seamless onboarding and inflight experience, including:
The introduction of a temporary Premium offering onboard select new-to-WestJet Boeing 737 aircraft, including preferred seating, more elbow room, priority boarding, exclusive snacks and beverages and a future travel credit;
the introduction of the UltraBasic fare not only provides an ultra-affordable option for our guests across our network but has also improved our on-time performance and overall guest experience. By reducing the demand for overhead bin space across our fleet, it allows those who have opted into travelling with a carry-on to benefit from additional overhead storage, regardless of their boarding zone;
the enhancement of WestJet’s buy-on-board menu will provide guests travelling onboard with access to carefully crafted meals, including options for vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-friendly and gluten-free diets, along with a curated selection of wine, spirits and beer available for purchase.
“Although we can’t control the weather, thanks to the incredible and diligent work of our 14,000 WestJetters, we are well positioned to safeguard the travel plans of our guests against winter-related events, while improving their experience across a series of touchpoints in during peak winter demand,” continued Pen.