Westjet slashes Service to Maritimes

[valleyboy]

Does it not make sense for WS to ditch the east and possibly concentrate from YYZ west and drop other routes east of there as well. Get back to the grass roots that made them in the first place.

[Conflicting Traffic]

https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2020/exec/1014n07/

So I ask. How stupid or incompetent are these people running the provinces? They are upset a private company is reducing services in which they themselves have cut off the demand.

Did you actually read tha article you linked to? That's the provincial governments asking the federal government to support the airlines.

[rooster]

To both responses to my post, I was saying what I’ve heard/observed while on layovers in the “bubble”. I don’t really care what you think everyone or the government needs to do and I’m certainly not going to get into an argument about it.
Their bubble isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, that’s a fact and the airlines can deal with that however they feel. All airlines could pull out like you said, but at the end of the day when this pandemic is over, the airlines will be fighting for every passenger they can.

Side note, this could be the companies retaliation for mainline ALPA filling grievances for Swoop flying Mainline routes out of Toronto. Pull out of routes completely that are low demand right now and then return with Swoop once the pandemic is over. The plans were already to have Swoop flying from YHM to many of the locations anyways, now they can just do it from YYZ. They’ve certainly proven their not letting a crisis go to waste.

Yeahhhh nobody was throwing shade at you for what you posted there bud. Simply commenting further on the things you overheard. Welcome to internet forums.

That aside, you're right, airlines will fight for pax as they always have under normal circumstances. However these are extraordinary circumstances and the airlines need extraordinary measures. Especially with an inept government who promises (but does not intend to) deliver financial aid, because they are too concerned about the opinions of a 16 year old Swedish girl about our contributions to CO2 emissions.

So yes, pull out of Ottawa, pull out of Atlantic Canada, press the issue of aid and once relief has come, resume capacity and continue the $1 airfares to price out the competition. Canada, what a country.

[challenger_nami]

Westjet has every right to cancel flights to whatever destination that does not make them profit. HOWEVER, they have to do it responsibly.

A person I know, booked a westjet flight for Nov 15th from one of the cities in Atlantic to one of the cities in the west , and BACK.
the $700 ticket was purchased 2 weeks ago, on October 2nd. Westjet announced canceling the route on October 14th.

Now there is a rumour that Westjet might not even refund that money. Even though they cancelled it, They will give westjet dollar credits to be used for future flights with Westjet. This person does not fly commercially very often. So the westjet credit won’t be of any use to her, SPECIALLY that westjet does not serve the airport in her city.

Keep in mind that Air Canada is serving her city,
Now she needs to spend another $800 to book with Air Canada for the trip on Nov 15.

So on her next credit cards bill, she needs to pay $1500, for this trip.

even if she flies again in the future, it makes sense for her to fly with Air Canada. The closest Westjet served airport is 2 hours drive away. So when is she going to have the chance to use the westjet credit?

I am sure Westjet knew they were going to cancel the route at the time of selling the tickets. Now they say they want to keep the money. Is that not highway rubbery?

[Old fella]

Westjet has every right to cancel flights to whatever destination that does not make them profit. HOWEVER, they have to do it responsibly.

A person I know, booked a westjet flight for Nov 15th from one of the cities in Atlantic to one of the cities in the west , and BACK.
the $700 ticket was purchased 2 weeks ago, on October 2nd. Westjet announced canceling the route on October 14th.

Now there is a rumour that Westjet might not even refund that money. Even though they cancelled it, They will give westjet dollar credits to be used for future flights with Westjet. This person does not fly commercially very often. So the westjet credit won’t be of any use to her, SPECIALLY that westjet does not serve the airport in her city.

Keep in mind that Air Canada is serving her city,
Now she needs to spend another $800 to book with Air Canada for the trip on Nov 15.

So on her next credit cards bill, she needs to pay $1500, for this trip.

even if she flies again in the future, it makes sense for her to fly with Air Canada. The closest Westjet served airport is 2 hours drive away. So when is she going to have the chance to use the westjet credit?

I am sure Westjet knew they were going to cancel the route at the time of selling the tickets. Now they say they want to keep the money. Is that not highway rubbery?

It’s more than highway robbery, tis irresponsible behaviour in my view. WJ is getting itself a bit of a greasy name and my fellow Maritimers have long memories. Keep this shit up and a sizeable portion of us couldn’t give a Cape Breton Fiddlers F@ck if WJ ever shows up here again.

[iflyforpie]

It’s just like the west telling the eastern bastards to “freeze in the dark” and then wondering why they don’t buy Canadian oil.....

[The Raven]

challenger_nami

You say the closest airport to your friend that Westjet serves is 2 hours away. Can she get to her original destination through that airport? I don’t consider a 2 hour drive a hardship.

[mijbil]

If they are going to throw up a barrier, that being an inter provincial 14 day provincially mandated quarantine, then this is simply a logical economic response from a company that is there to make money. If the route isn't profitable, it closes. Simple. The rest of the noise is political bluster. At my outfit we are essentially idled until Prince Daffodil or one of his minions lifts the international 14 day quarantine. Why? It's not profitable to operate mostly empty airplanes and people are not going to go to the sun for a week if they have to hang out at home for 2 weeks afterward. It's a business decision for us.
As far as maritimers having long memories, as described by Old Fella, I know they do. I have lived there. I also know that they have a very well developed sense of economy. Nova Scotia is a latinization of New Scotland and we all know about the Scots propensity for thrift. Those stereotypes don't sping out of no-where as I love to point out to the Scots relatives. Two or three years from now, if a WS fare is $30 cheaper, guess where the business is mostly going.

I have my own heretical opinions on this whole business and if the quarantine is warranted, but I won't get into that here.

The maritimes have created this problem for themselves. It would not surprise me to see AC shut things down as well. Nothing personal - it's just business.

[challenger_nami]

challenger_nami

You say the closest airport to your friend that Westjet serves is 2 hours away. Can she get to her original destination through that airport? I don’t consider a 2 hour drive a hardship.

She does not drive. So now she has to take a cab to get to the other airport which is 250 kilometres away in a DIFFERENT PROVINCE.Now how long and how much does a 250k cab ride cost?

There is a possibility of upcoming border restrictions between Atlantic provinces due to rising COVID cases in New Brunswick.

Westjet has the right to cancel the route, BUT WJ has to have the decency to refund the money so she can just book with Air Canada to fly from her own city.



.

[Old fella]

If they are going to throw up a barrier, that being an inter provincial 14 day provincially mandated quarantine, then this is simply a logical economic response from a company that is there to make money. If the route isn't profitable, it closes. Simple. The rest of the noise is political bluster. At my outfit we are essentially idled until Prince Daffodil or one of his minions lifts the international 14 day quarantine. Why? It's not profitable to operate mostly empty airplanes and people are not going to go to the sun for a week if they have to hang out at home for 2 weeks afterward. It's a business decision for us.
As far as maritimers having long memories, as described by Old Fella, I know they do. I have lived there. I also know that they have a very well developed sense of economy. Nova Scotia is a latinization of New Scotland and we all know about the Scots propensity for thrift. Those stereotypes don't sping out of no-where as I love to point out to the Scots relatives. Two or three years from now, if a WS fare is $30 cheaper, guess where the business is mostly going.

I have my own heretical opinions on this whole business and if the quarantine is warranted, but I won't get into that here.

The maritimes have created this problem for themselves. It would not surprise me to see AC shut things down as well. Nothing personal - it's just business.

First of all I agree with your thesis, hard to argue against. My point of contention is not giving the person in question a refund when WJ cancelled 80% of their Atlantic schedule, which again as you correctly identified they have that authority to do. Yes, the bubble here has created that situation, no question there. I would argue a good many of those cancelled routes will not be reinstated in the future. To be honest the competition down here was good with WJ mainline/Encore/Swoop/AC mainline/Jazz and Porter with our small population. Perhaps a shakeout was due and pandemic set it all up.

[Old fella]

challenger_nami

You say the closest airport to your friend that Westjet serves is 2 hours away. Can she get to her original destination through that airport? I don’t consider a 2 hour drive a hardship.

She does not drive. So now she has to take a cab to get to the other airport which is 250 kilometres away in a DIFFERENT PROVINCE.Now how long and how much does a 250k cab ride cost?

There is a possibility of upcoming border restrictions between Atlantic provinces due to rising COVID cases in New Brunswick.

Westjet has the right to cancel the route, BUT WJ has to have the decency to refund the money so she can just book with Air Canada to fly from her own city.



.

Reading your response the individual would in my view have a strong case for credit card reverse charges against WJ under the “services not rendered” clause. Despite what many believe VISA/MC/AE et al are sympathetic to reasonable requests of this nature. I speak from experience, however phone calls, the dreaded fax etc are required. If I was in that situation I wouldn’t hesitate to pursue that avenue.

[challenger_nami]

Reading your response the individual would in my view have a strong case for credit card reverse charges against WJ under the “services not rendered” clause. Despite what many believe VISA/MC/AE et al are sympathetic to reasonable requests of this nature. I speak from experience, however phone calls, the dreaded fax etc are required. If I was in that situation I wouldn’t hesitate to pursue that avenue.

Thanks for that Fella,
I will pass the suggestion along.

[flying4dollars]

challenger_nami

You say the closest airport to your friend that Westjet serves is 2 hours away. Can she get to her original destination through that airport? I don’t consider a 2 hour drive a hardship.

She does not drive. So now she has to take a cab to get to the other airport which is 250 kilometres away in a DIFFERENT PROVINCE.Now how long and how much does a 250k cab ride cost?

There is a possibility of upcoming border restrictions between Atlantic provinces due to rising COVID cases in New Brunswick.

Westjet has the right to cancel the route, BUT WJ has to have the decency to refund the money so she can just book with Air Canada to fly from her own city.



.

Reading your response the individual would in my view have a strong case for credit card reverse charges against WJ under the “services not rendered” clause. Despite what many believe VISA/MC/AE et al are sympathetic to reasonable requests of this nature. I speak from experience, however phone calls, the dreaded fax etc are required. If I was in that situation I wouldn’t hesitate to pursue that avenue.

You beat me to it!

I paid for an 18 month membership at Steve Nash Fitness in Vancouver back in January. Cost me $700. The gym's closed in March and I had then requested a refund as I was starting to see how everything was unfolding. Nobody replied to my email despite several polite and diplomatic requests. I called Amex to dispute, sent them copies of my repeated emails and withing a couple of weeks, they reversed the charges. It was a very effortless process.

Now that being said, does trip cancellation insurance apply in this case? Most credit cards offer this I think. I don't know what the stipulations are but I imagine there's coverage for when the airline itself cancels. I'm sure people who have money withheld by WJ could recuperate through their credit cards.

[challenger_nami]

You beat me to it!

I paid for an 18 month membership at Steve Nash Fitness in Vancouver back in January. Cost me $700. The gym's closed in March and I had then requested a refund as I was starting to see how everything was unfolding. Nobody replied to my email despite several polite and diplomatic requests. I called Amex to dispute, sent them copies of my repeated emails and withing a couple of weeks, they reversed the charges. It was a very effortless process.

Now that being said, does trip cancellation insurance apply in this case? Most credit cards offer this I think. I don't know what the stipulations are but I imagine there's coverage for when the airline itself cancels. I'm sure people who have money withheld by WJ could recuperate through their credit cards.

Thanks for the info @Flying4Dollars
These businesses really need to learn how NOT to betray people’s trust.... but they won’t.... oh well.

[rookiepilot]

Good luck.......

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/credit ... -1.5577722

"But a Marketplace investigation found the process has been fraught with challenges, with several MasterCard and Visa cardholders saying they've met with resistance to opening a dispute and, in some cases, warnings that their airline credit could be cancelled if they proceeded.

Customers say they were also told of policies that exclude cases where a travel credit was offered, or were encouraged to accept a credit rather than pursue a dispute. Some say they were told pandemic-related disputes would not be addressed at all."

[Fanblade]

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavir ... 7731c3da74

Dr. David Nabarro from the WHO appealed to world leaders yesterday, telling them to stop “using lockdowns as your primary control method” of the coronavirus.

He also claimed that the only thing lockdowns achieved was poverty.

You can not decide on one hand to discourage travel within Canada, and then expect airlines to eat the cost of that decision.

There needs to be some middle ground found. At the moment everyone is saying. You pay. No you pay. No you pay.

Attack the cause not the messenger. The causation is the domestic quarantine. That is the route cause of the problem. Out west people are travelling. Not a lot but enough to keep basic air travel operating.

Again. According to the WHO. The only thing lockdown achieves is poverty.

Quit frankly I am against public money going to cover a problem caused by political decisions.

Fix the problem instead.

[montado]

Lol you should look up the top media articles if you google "who lockdown"

All the mainstream sources are shutting this news down saying we aren't interpreting it correctly as if lockdowns are still really important...

How many days this year have Canadian hospitals been unable to keep up with covid? Zero... Infact I know some people who work in the hospital saying they pull pranks all day because it's the good old days and not busy at all... They are literally bored throwing nurf balls in the hallways. That's what happens when you cancel all elective surgery and only few people trickle in with covid. Our hard earned tax dollars at work, sorry for anyone who's now on a 12 month wait list for surgery. What a joke. The lockdown was warranted for about a month while we figured shit out. The fact that more than half of Canadians today support going back into lockdown if cases climb is insane if you ask me.

Mayo clinic says the virus has mutated and its less deadly, but to be cautious we should keep doing the same policies... Lol, how dumb is that logic? I'm sticking with the US election conspiracy... Give it another month and in the US the will begin to ignore covid and it won't make front page news... Life will go nearly normal. In Canada on the other hand I can't tell. Lots of doomer here...

[mijbil]

Montado is absolutely correct about hospitals. Our neighbor across the road works at the local hospital in reception and it was a ghost town. Even at the time we were saying why not do elective day surgeries to clear some back log with the caveat that IF things suddenly get busy, the surgery is cancelled on next to no notice. People would understand that an emergency trumps an elective. Did it happen? Of course not. It's still a veritable ghost town.
Old Fella - as far as WS not giving a refund likely knowing that the routes were being axed, that is wrong. We know why it's being done - they need the cash but it's wrong. The credit card dispute route is a good idea. Yes you have to stand up for yourself. So do it. If enough make a case of it, then maybe they won't be so difficult in the future. BTW my outfit is pulling the same stunt in issuing 'future credits'. If the price climbs people will be rightly mad if they have to fork out more for the same service a year later. Will marketing be smart and allow people to travel on the same trip for the same previous price as a good will gesture? Who knows.

[bald seagull]

Is there any difference between Westjet and Air Canada anymore?

[CPT.HarshColdReality]

https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2020/exec/1014n07/

So I ask. How stupid or incompetent are these people running the provinces? They are upset a private company is reducing services in which they themselves have cut off the demand.

like really eh! makes me want to explode in rage. zero logic.