The holiday travel season is proving to be a disaster for many.
WestJet is cancelling hundreds of flights in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec due to major winter storms that are wreaking havoc with holiday travel.
Air Canada today said it pre-cancelled an undetermined number of flights in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal due to the impending storm, while Porter Airlines said “many” Ontario-based flights will likely be cancelled starting this afternoon. Sunwing says it has had to cancel many southbound flights from Western Canada through until Christmas.
Airlines say they’re doing their best to cope with what some weather experts call “unprecedented” storms.
“Complimentary moves are available for any passenger scheduled to travel today or Saturday,” Air Canada stated. “Passengers may move their flight through until December 26. We encourage passengers to check their flight status before coming to the airport. Passengers can make changes to their booking on the website under ‘My Bookings’. Due to the high volume of calls, we are asking that only passengers flying within 72 hours and who require assistance contact the call centre at this time.
WestJet today said it has cancelled 300 flights today and 15 for tomorrow, Christmas Eve. All told, that amounts to 1,211 cancelled flights since Dec. 18.
WestJet issued the following statement around 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Dec. 22:
Due to a second significant winter storm system, scheduled to impact Vancouver and the Southern B.C. region beginning on the evening of Thursday, December 22, WestJet has proactively cancelled all flights arriving and departing Vancouver International Airport (YVR) beginning at 11:50 p.m. PST, until the late afternoon of Friday, December 23, dependent on weather conditions. In addition, flights have been proactively cancelled at Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Victoria International Airport (YYJ), Nanaimo Airport (YCD) and Comox Airport (YQQ).
The proactive cancellations will impact 126 flights across the five airports and were made in consultation with airport authorities and NAV Canada. All impacted guests have been notified. Read more on our Newsroom.
Southern Ontario/Quebec Winter Storm – Proactive Cancels (Dec 23)
Due to a significant winter storm system scheduled to impact Southern Ontario and Quebec regions, WestJet has proactively cancelled all flights arriving and departing Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST on Friday, December 23 until end of day, with a restart dependent on weather conditions by Saturday, December 24. The service suspension will also impact additional airports in Southern Ontario and Quebec including, Ottawa International Airport (YOW), London International Airport (YXU), the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) and Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport (YUL).
The proactive cancellations will impact 140 flights across the five airports and were made in consultation with airport authorities and NAV Canada.
All told, WestJet said it’s looking at 119 cancelled flights on Dec. 22 and 243 on Dec. 23 for Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Southern Ontario and Quebec. Toronto Pearson and Vancouver International are the two busiest airports in Canada, and December 23 is traditionally one of the busiest days for travel, which makes for a double whammy.
I could be wrong, but I don’t remember ANY storms that have resulted in this many cancellations; certainly not around the holiday season. It’s a gut-wrenching blow for airline passengers trying to meet up with friends and family in what’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.
It’s much worse in Canada, where WestJet proactively cancelled all flights arriving and departing Vancouver International Airport (YVR) beginning at 11:50 p.m. PST Thursday, until the late afternoon of Friday, December 23, dependent on weather conditions. It also grounded flights at several other British Columbia airports, including Victoria International.
As of 4 p.m. Eastern Time, FlightAware reports 196 WestJet cancellations today (56% of all flights), while WestJet Encore was at 112 cancellations (49%). Swoop, a WestJet subsidiary, was showing 48 cancellations, a whopping 81% of all flights.
Air Canada was showing 85 cancellations (17%), while Air Canada Jazz was at 255 (52%) and Air Canada Rouge at 21 (16%). Porter Airlines had 79 flights cancelled as of 4 p.m. ET (45%).
FlightAware stats showed 173 cancelled outbound flights from Toronto Pearson (32%) and 145 out of Vancouver (43%). For Montreal, it showed 68 cancellations (24% of all flights). For Toronto City Centre/Billy Bishop Airport, there were 56 cancellations as of 4 p.m. ET, or 60% of all scheduled flights.
“We pre-cancelled a number of flights for today at Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal due to the weather, reduced airport capacity and other operational constraints,” Air Canada told me in an email Friday morning. “Given the changing circumstances, customers should be sure to check their flights are operating before going to the airport.
“For those who do not wish to travel, we have put in place an extensive goodwill policies, details under Travel News and Updates on www.aircanada.com. These allow customers to cancel their flights online and receive a full refund or voucher on tickets purchased on or before Dec. 21 for any flight between Dec. 22-26 and until Dec 28 for Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.”
“Based on weather forecasts, many Ontario-based flights will likely be cancelled starting this afternoon,” Porter officials told me in an email around 10:30 a.m. ET. “We are planning to ensure we are in a strong position to operate tomorrow and get as many passengers to their destinations as possible.
“Complimentary moves are available for any passenger scheduled to travel today or Saturday. Passengers may move their flight through until December 26.
“We encourage passengers to check their flight status before coming to the airport. Passengers can make changes to their booking on the website under ‘My Bookings’. Due to the high volume of calls, we are asking that only passengers flying within 72 hours and who require assistance contact the call centre at this time.”
WestJet Chief Operations Officer Diederick Pen issued the following statement late Thursday night:
“To our guests, we know how important your travel plans are at this time of year and every single WestJetter feels the weight of not being able to get you where you want to be. We sincerely apologize for the continued disruption many have or will experience and appreciate your continued patience and understanding. Our teams on the ground, in the air and behind the scenes are working tirelessly to recover our operations, while trying to limit further disruption to important holiday travel plans.
The prolonged and extreme weather events that continue to impact multiple regions across Canada are unlike anything we’ve experienced. With the additional storms forecasted to impact British Columbia, Southern Ontario and Quebec, we are taking a proactive and measured approach to protect our operations and prioritize recovery flying this weekend. The decision to stand down more flights is extremely difficult, but it is necessary, so that we can be best prepared to safely fly as many guests, with as little disruption as possible when the weather improves.”
Here’s a statement from Sunwing’s website.
“As a result of severe winter weather in Vancouver which has stranded several planes and crew, we have had to cancel some southbound flights from the Western Canada airports of Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg, effective immediately. The cancellations apply to select southbound departures up to and including December 25, 2022. We are in the process of advising affected customers or their travel agents.
“Please note that customers with cancelled flights will receive a full refund to their original form of payment. No action is required from customers. Please be advised that refunds will be processed within 30 days.
“For those customers who would prefer to change their travel to a different date, they can do so before December 27, 2022 by contacting their travel agent or the Sunwing Sales Centre at 1-877-786-9464. Current system rates will apply. If no changes are reflected on customers’ bookings by December 27, 2022, the booking will be automatically cancelled and a refund issued, with no action required from customers.”
