WestJet is apologizing for a weekend outage that wreaked havoc with the company and its customers, while Sunwing says its operational issues should be resolved by tomorrow.
WestJet officials say their issue is under control but that it could take a few days for things to return to normal.
CTV reports more than 200 flights were cancelled on the weekend, causing major headaches for travellers.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Diederik Pen put out the following statement late Sunday.
“On Saturday November 5, WestJet experienced a system-wide outage that impacted operations across our network due to a cooling issue in our primary data centre. Upon learning of the issue, we immediately implemented procedures to employ backup options and manual processes where possible, to minimize guest impact.
“Despite our best efforts, a severe disruption to our service occurred, resulting in more than 200 flight cancellations across our network and significant delays throughout Saturday and Sunday.
“On behalf of the entire WestJet team, we sincerely apologize to all guests for this unforeseen disruption to their travel plans and the resulting impact on communications, affecting our ability to relay information. We deeply regret this weekend’s extraordinary events that prevented us from delivering the experience our guests deserve.
“The technology outage has been resolved and all systems are online, but we are still experiencing some instability. Unfortunately, due to the scope of yesterday’s network impact, we continue to see residual disruptions. Further delays and cancellations in the coming days will be required, as we work diligently to recover our operations.
“We understand we let our guests down, and as we work to restore normal operations we owe our sincere gratitude to all who continue to demonstrate patience and understanding as we are currently experiencing very high volumes for our phone, email and social media support channels and long lineups at airports.
“While our teams are working to assist guests as quickly as possible, we ask that anyone with travel plans check the WestJet app or WestJet.com for the most up-to-date information on their flight. In an effort to assist guests with imminent travel plans, we are asking all other guests to refrain from contacting us until 72 hours in advance of their flight to ensure we are able to prioritize calls. Re-accommodation options for all impacted guests will be communicated through email as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist guests who are coming to our airports for re-accommodations.
“We are undertaking a full review on this incident, and it is my sincere promise that we will find areas of opportunity to improve.”
WestJet today reported 31 cancellations related to recovery from the service outage, winter weather, crew, safety and maintenance.
Sunwing suffered a setback last week when a cyber attack was launched on a third-party provider.
“We are continuing to execute on our scheduled recovery plan and anticipate a return to near normal operations by Tuesday (Nov. 8),” officials said. “We’ve recovered the ability to file flight plans and dispatch our flights, however the logistics of doing so took time as we navigated the various complexities of flight recovery with all those involved in all the destinations we operate from.
“The various operationally restrictive weather patterns added further complications but we continue to proactively mitigate the effects of foreseeable challenges to our scheduled recovery plan and react to new unforeseen challenges as they occur.
“Every Sunwing passenger experiencing a delay in destination will be provided a return flight home, and while delayed, our teams continue doing everything they can to keep customers up to date and comfortable, providing meal vouchers, arranging transfer services and securing hotel rooms for those who are impacted overnight. Customers can continue checking their flight statuses on Sunwing.ca for the most up-to-date information on travel times, while customers in destination can chat live with a Sunwing Virtual Concierge in the Sunwing app, connect with their local Sunwing representative or reach out to Sunwing Cares.
“As we work around the clock to ensure our customers can get back to travel as soon as possible, the resolution is within sight and we thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding.”
