If you were on WS229 YHZ-YYC, looks like your flight has been cancelled.
Yep in anticipation we had our flight changed to the YHZ-YEG flight so we'd get in LAS 5 hours earlier.
Alas that was cancelled too. I just made this Facebook status update which covers our honeymoon adventure this far:
Went to Halifax a day early to see if WestJet could get us out on an earlier flight due to the impending storm. The Call Centre couldn't help but we were told the airport could be better.
We were at YHZ at 3:00am this morning. We're told we were where we should be. Waited for a desk agent who said that the flights were full, we discussed no shows but check back at cutoff time to see if seats became available.
Just before cutoff time the new clerk seemed annoyed that we were there and said that absolutely they would not put us on the flight. They'd send the plane empty before they'd help a passenger change their flight to alleviate congestion.
I called the call centre (by this time with me calling and checking for a flight change it would have been about call #6.
Throughout we were told we could change flights if seats were available, we were told we couldn't, we were told cutoff was 45mins before flight time, we were told cutoff time was 1 hour before flight time.
With the frustrations and told they would not try to get us out we went to the hotel (which was booked for the night of the 14th) to see if we could get an early check in (at this point it's 6:30am and I've been awake for 23 hours.
We pay the day rate and I sleep off an on until 7.
I wake up and check our flight to Edmonton (leaves 7:30am) and see it's cancelled.
I call WestJet and check their website. All the WestJet flights out of Halifax are cancelled for the morning.
The girl who I got at the call centre this time was very helpful. She rebooked us to fly out of Halifax to St. John's then tomorrow fly to Las Vegas connecting in Toronto. Alas we get in 9 hours later than scheduled. So she gave us an extra day in Las Vegas flying out a day later but arriving in Halifax only 4 hours later. That works for me.
Then get on the plane to St. John's we're seated in Plus, free snacks and beer.
Then going to the airport hotel while waiting for mg turn at the desk I go through my cards app on my phone and see a membership card for Comfort Hotels. I give it to the girl saying "It's probably expired". It wasn't, and while I didn't get a room discount, I did get a room upgrade.
So fly out at 2:45 tomorrow and continue this adventure in what is our defacto honeymoon.
This journey will bring us from Sydney to Halifax to St John's to Toronto to Las Vegas to Vancouver to Toronto to Halifax to Sydney. That's if nothing else changes.
Sleep time.
On an unrelated note, Bob Cole is still holding strong as the only Newfoundlander I've ever met who was a ######. Great folks up here.
__________________ "Calgary Flames is the best team in all the land" - My Brainwashed Son
Sorry to hear WJ made your trip sour. There's bad apples in every bunch, but if it's any consolation, I've met the guys in Calgary that make the calls to axe flights and they do so by taking everything into consideration, and the last thing they want to do is ruin people's vacations. But at the end of the day, when weather hits the fan, they need these $75 million airplanes in a place where they are most useful to the business.
The majority of people are working as hard as they can and it makes the bad ones really stick out. Even things like turbulence... pilots are well aware of how much the bumps can scare some people. When you start getting into some serious bumps it may seem like nothing is happening up front, but I assure you they are doing absolutely everything in their power to find smooth air, and I know because it's me they're berating like on Friday where there was turbulence from pretty much Anchorage all the way to Hudson Bay.
No doubt none of this will make you feel any better, but my general tendency in these situations is to jump in with a good word for the airline.
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Air Canada proudly announced today that it is the airline of choice for Canada's major professional hockey teams. Under six-year agreements with six of Canada's best professional teams, the airline will provide air transportation through Air Canada Jetz, its in-house, all-Premium Class charter service operated by mainline Air Canada pilots and flight attendants.
Yep in anticipation we had our flight changed to the YHZ-YEG flight so we'd get in LAS 5 hours earlier.
....
Hope you eventually made it to LAS, and are having a blast.
This tale emphasizes one of WestJet's major issues, lack of flexibility and contingencies during IRROPS. The unified fleet type, and very high fleet utilization, makes it difficult to recover from cancelled flights. Whereas Air Canada has the flexibility to send in a significantly larger aircraft, which they have done multiple times over the winter, to both YHZ and YYT. During the mess you were caught in last week, they subbed in a 777-200, which was able to take the loads from 3 cancelled flights. WestJet just can't do that.
Hope you eventually made it to LAS, and are having a blast.
This tale emphasizes one of WestJet's major issues, lack of flexibility and contingencies during IRROPS. The unified fleet type, and very high fleet utilization, makes it difficult to recover from cancelled flights. Whereas Air Canada has the flexibility to send in a significantly larger aircraft, which they have done multiple times over the winter, to both YHZ and YYT. During the mess you were caught in last week, they subbed in a 777-200, which was able to take the loads from 3 cancelled flights. WestJet just can't do that.
Didn't westjet charter some 747s once during a backlog?
They did, last winter chartering a 747 to fly Toronto - Calgary to start chipping away at the backlog. Maybe the 763 frames will help next winter as it's looking like they'll have some down days, but Voodooman's post is pretty much exactly what the people at WestJet ops said. Much easier to clear out domestic backlogs when you have 458 seat 777's at your disposal.
$750k is ringing a bell as the cost of that charter.
They did, last winter chartering a 747 to fly Toronto - Calgary to start chipping away at the backlog. Maybe the 763 frames will help next winter as it's looking like they'll have some down days, but Voodooman's post is pretty much exactly what the people at WestJet ops said. Much easier to clear out domestic backlogs when you have 458 seat 777's at your disposal.
$750k is ringing a bell as the cost of that charter.
Yup...much easier when the planes are yours. Not to mention that aircraft leases are usually not "immediate" delivery. So even if they were willing to pay that $750K, they may not even get an aircraft for at least a week or two.
Back in Canada. LAS was fantastic. Currently sitting in YVR waiting for my connection east.
My issue wasn't the cancelled flight. It was being fed different stories on what my options were.
Don't tell me to go to the airport, don't tell me to wait until cutoff to see if there are seat available IF those aren't options.
I ended up flying to YYT then YYZ into LAS. But I could have booked that the day before I I knew that was the only option. I was told it wasn't, and was lead to believe my odds were good to fly out early the day before.
I wouldn't have had to pay for two extra hotel rooms (the day rate in YHZ & I could have cancelled the original night in YHZ as well paying only for YYT). All WestJet had to do was be honest with me about my options. Lying caused me lost sleep, time and expense.
I fully understand the reason for the cancelled flights (I'm half expecting another tonight) but don't lie to me about what to do when the flight is cancelled.
__________________ "Calgary Flames is the best team in all the land" - My Brainwashed Son
Sometimes when this happens our system goes "TRAFFIC TRAFFIC" in this very loud female voice and everybody turns to tease you and go "ohhhh!!" cause controllers are dicks. First time it happened I nearly jumped out of my skin.
This is minimum and perfectly legal separation but even having studied avionics, it's still insane how much trust we put in altimeters to be accurate when you watch videos like this.
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