Westjet Lost My Luggage

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

Here's something unrelated.

I'm flying WJ tomorrow (they had better deals than AC at the time I was buying). I did the web check-in for my flight.

What happened to seat selection? There was nowhere in the web check in process where it asked me to pick a seat.

I flew last week and I had the option. I think it assigns you a seat but there is a button to click to change it.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

I flew last week and I had the option. I think it assigns you a seat but there is a button to click to change it.

Didn't get that button at all.

[Tron_fdc]

WJ seems to be experiencing some pretty serious growing pains. I've had a lot of problems with them the last few weeks with agent wait times, lineups, seat selections and booking availability. My assumption is they are flying close to max capacity, and it's putting a strain on their resources. I'm thinking it gets worse before it gets better here.

[Frequitude]

Westjet sucks. Less seat room, crappy seat back entertainment system, annoying hokey gimmicks.

And no, they're not always magically early. They overshoot their arrival time so they can say "heyyy looks like we were able to get you in a couple of minutes early".

[the wanderer]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

Here's something unrelated.

I'm flying WJ tomorrow (they had better deals than AC at the time I was buying). I did the web check-in for my flight.

What happened to seat selection? There was nowhere in the web check in process where it asked me to pick a seat.

I believe seat selection is within 24 hrs of the flight leaving unless you pay extra for it in advance

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by the wanderer

I believe seat selection is within 24 hrs of the flight leaving unless you pay extra for it in advance

That is what it usually is. My flight left today at 7:15PM, I checked in yesterday at about 9:00PM, within that 24 hour window.

There was no option for me to select my seat during the check-in process.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

Didn't get that button at all.

It's on the main page

[Bigtime]

Perhaps there were no seats left, so it skipped the option?

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

And no, they're not always magically early. They overshoot their arrival time so they can say "heyyy looks like we were able to get you in a couple of minutes early".

Every North American airline does that. They get ranked on the percentage of flights that land on time, so they juke the stats.

[Ryan Coke]

Ok, I just have to address 'juking the stats'.

Block times (scheduled arrival and departure times) are set to try to be achievable most of the time....since winds vary and therefore our speed on any given day. Also traffic delays vary....we try to account for busy times (equivalent of us leaving more time at rush hour), but the fact is traffic delays are impossible to predict with certainty. Add in de-icing, guest delays, mechanical issues.....lots of things affect on time performance.

The block times aren't padded with the intent of appearing to be on time. They are based on giving us at least the chance of being on time, most of the time. So if the winds are more favourable than the average, then we will be early, all else being equal, or even if we close the door a few minutes late. Or if we only have a 3 minute taxi for runway 16 in YYC, versus a 12 minute taxi for 34. On the other hand, if the winds are more negative than usual, then even if we close 10 early there is no way we will be on time at destination.

The reason we don't put a bunch more 'padding' in to appear on time all the time is that it is terribly inefficient. Airlines need their 50+ million dollar assets in the air making money, as opposed to sitting on the ground with artificially long turns times and block times.

Just wanted to give you some insight into how block times are evaluated, and it isn't about juking the numbers to pretend we are on time more than we are. OTP is incredibly important to us and there is currently again another big push internally to do everything we can to be on time.

[gargamel]

^There has been a change in the way that arrival times are calculated over the last few years, though, right? I'm not talking about Westjet specifically, but I know the expected flight times for specific routes that I fly often are slightly longer now than they were a few years ago, and I don't remember nearly as many pilots saying "we got a late start but we should be able to make that time up in the air" until recently. Either way, I'm not complaining, but I am curious.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Perhaps there were no seats left, so it skipped the option?

Nope, there were definitely empty seats on that flight.

The seat I had was fine, I didn't care all that much, just found it odd that seat selection wasn't available

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I like WestJet - the people have always been nice, I'm not obese and the seats have always been adequate, I'm not in the NBA and I have always had legroom, there is TV to watch, a newspaper to read, they lost my luggage before but #### happens and I won't begrudge someone for that - they deal with thousands of bags a year and finding misplaced luggage has to be tough it takes me 5 minutes to find my keys in the morning (bedside table or jacket pocket)... at the end of the day they get me from point a to point b, I'm not looking for a blowjob or to be treated like a king, just relax, take a deep breath and remember that it is a marvel of science that you are flying though the air and enjoy the trip.

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by gargamel

^There has been a change in the way that arrival times are calculated over the last few years, though, right? I'm not talking about Westjet specifically, but I know the expected flight times for specific routes that I fly often are slightly longer now than they were a few years ago, and I don't remember nearly as many pilots saying "we got a late start but we should be able to make that time up in the air" until recently. Either way, I'm not complaining, but I am curious.

I'm not sure what you're referring to. There are different metrics, such as A0 (arrival 0 minutes late) or A15 (within 15 mins of schedule). Typically A15 is the industry norm, but I don't recall a specific change. But you might be right, and maybe it was a US change that didn't really affect Canadian airlines.

As far as 'making up time', usually it refers to the fact that with some stronger than average tailwind (or less than average headwind), or maybe a short taxi, that we can try to still get in close to schedule even if we left a bit late.

The idea of 'stepping on the gas' doesn't usually happen. First of all, there isn't a huge amount of variance in speed we can fly at cruising altitude. But even if we go from say Mach .77 to Mach .79, it makes maybe a few minutes difference but costs significantly more fuel.

[Bigtime]

Ryan, I had heard you guys at WS were no longer doing reduced power climbs. Is that true?

[Bill Bumface]

I swear every single flight I've been on that has departed on time has landed "early". I have the best luck with the wind ever?

[Ryan Coke]

BG-still doing reduced climbs, but I have heard that may be eliminated. We do mostly reduced thrust takeoffs, but seems that they have done an analysis of costs/benefits of the reduced climb thrust, and it may be that the benefit of reduced fuel and engine wear are not enough to make up for the costs associated with reduced climb rates. Having said that nothing official yet.

Hulkrogan, if the blocks are designed for 70 or 80% winds, instead of just average (50%), then any time you are have more beneficial winds the you should be early everything else being equal. So more than half the time we should be early if we leave on time. Also, you may land early, but are you actually at the gate early?

[drewboy12]

people are so unlucky I guess... I have flown 190 times, Id roughly say 175 of those where with WestJet. I had a bag delayed 3 days once on US Airways. Ive had maybe 10 delayed flights, of which I would guess 2-3max where an hour or greater.

If you are flying for a meeting with a suit... Carry on... Things happen, people make mistakes. No company is perfect... You just happened to be the one unlucky guy out of 1000 that day, and your bag got lost. Maybe it wasnt even WestJet... sometimes security take bags from the bag belts and randomly search them. Things happen behind the scenes. Bag tags rip off easily. Always keep a business card, or address card in or on your bag. I usually stick a piece of tape on my bag if I am checking it, with my full name and destination...

[Maritime Q-Scout]

A little travel tip. Fly carry on whenever possible.

Not for the potential post luggage but the fact you walk off the pla e and out the airport door. No waiting around for an hour at the baggage carrousel.