Westjet strands flyers in Moncton during March break

[The Raven]

Westjet strands flyers in Moncton during March break
CBC News
Posted: Mar 2, 2013 8:12 PM AT
Last Updated: Mar 2, 2013 8:14 PM AT
Read 56 comments56
WestJet has cancelled several of its flights in and out of Moncton. WestJet has cancelled several of its flights in and out of Moncton. (The Canadian Press)




WestJet has cancelled several of its flights in and out of Moncton for the last few days because of winter storm warnings, despite no official warning from Environment Canada.

WestJet is the only airline in Moncton that issued a cancellation warning, stranding travellers just as March break swings into high gear. Some WestJet flights headed to the United States were also delayed or cancelled.

Now many travellers are stuck, while others are taking extreme measures to deal with the cancellations.

Krista-Lee Jardine and her husband were scheduled to leave Fort McMurray, Alta on Thursday. The couple was headed for New Brunswick to visit their new granddaughter, but they only arrived in New Brunswick on Saturday after deciding to rent a car.

“Last night they decided to cancel the one they rebooked for us," she said. "My husband rented a car and we drove... from Toronto to Moncton, non-stop. [We're] very tired, very rundown.”

Jardine said they were told the cancellations were due to poor weather, but when they called their family in New Brunswick, they were told the weather was fine.

University student Matthew Britton hitched a ride with the couple after he too was stranded.

"Everybody was frustrated," he said. "It was just the same thing over and over. You go through security, you wait in the airport for eight hours, then at the very last minute you're told your flight is cancelled. You get your luggage, go to a low-level motel and stay there, and then do the whole thing over again."

A woman working at the Air Canada desk in Moncton's airport told CBC News that she’s booked several WestJet passengers hoping to salvage some of their vacations.

[altiplano]

I see lowest RVR at 4000-6000 being reported 16Z-19z on friday - still above minimums, the rest of the reports are at least a mile or better... seems fishy to cancel flights so quickly... maybe something else is involved?

[flyer 1492]

Probably no crews. I would love to see how our spin department works this.

[matrix]

What were the winds and runway conditions?

[Green Onions]

Come on, there is no story here. Just poor reporting. You would think that you pilots would know better than to just be looking at wx in yqm. Maybe the plane was caught in wx else where and never made it to yyz to operate the flight.

Flyer you work for Jazz right? We also have many cancelled flights that can seem fishy at first glace. There is no spin required, airlines are complicated operations that cover huge areas in a relatively short amount of time. Some flights are going to end up cancelled. If we as pilots can't even get it, then how is the flying public ever going to?

I love this piece "A woman working at the Air Canada desk in Moncton's airport told CBC News that she’s booked several WestJet passengers hoping to salvage some of their vacations." My inlaws had a week vacation booked on AC, they boarded their flight only to be delayed an hour and then cancelled. AC could not rebook them for 4 days, because there was such a back log of passangers due to the over selling of the flights by AC. Funny thing is that AC was still selling seats for the next day online if you were willing to pay enough.

[Old fella]

Over the past year I have detected some small cracks in that base of the WJ dedicated travellers down here - some had less than stellar experiences flying on their favorite "Western Wagon". On the other side of the room, the "Maple Leaf" has been getting some quiet applause, I have been hearing " not bad, not bad at all....... what's the fuss all about, I had no issues"..... Just saying!!!!!

[aroundthewing]

Come on, there is no story here. Just poor reporting. You would think that you pilots would know better than to just be looking at wx in yqm. Maybe the plane was caught in wx else where and never made it to yyz to operate the flight.

Correct...no story here unless it pertains to Air Canada!!

Funny thing is that AC was still selling seats for the next day online if you were willing to pay enough.

And you know this how?

[Green Onions]

there is this site... www.aircanada.ca check it out, you can buy tickets on AC.

Aroundthewing maybe you should reread. I think my post makes it clear there is no story be it AC, WJ, or any other airline for that matter. Flights get cancelled for many reasons, dont like it take the bus or drive.

[WJ700]

My experience is it generally isn't the weather that will mess you up in the maritimes, its the runway. There are much tighter limitations than 3 winters ago. An RFI more than an hour old in active conditions, no braking reports, and then there are RSC reports that are very inconsistent and subjective - dependent on who takes the report. If any of the conditions reported start to exceed 20% contaminant and drop you in to the 'poor braking' category (from our charts), we are limited to 5 knots of cross wind. The charts are from Boeing, the pilots are just following the training they are given.

For this winter I've had to request a new RFI with (5 minute old reporting .51) because the runway was reported as 25% ice. The airport wasn't reporting the cleared width, and the ice was actually outside of the landing area. This wasn't the airlines fault... the airports have to get their act together and be consistent with what they report. I can't say this is what is happening in YQM but I when I see 6000 RVR, I usually assume it is the runway that cancelled or diverted the flight.

[aroundthewing]

there is this site... http://www.aircanada.ca check it out, you can buy tickets on AC.

Aroundthewing maybe you should reread. I think my post makes it clear there is no story be it AC, WJ, or any other airline for that matter. Flights get cancelled for many reasons, dont like it take the bus or drive.

I was thinking you should reread my post! Obviously you didn't clue in to the satirical side of it regarding the Air Canada comment!
As for the rest of your post regarding open seats available on the very next day...I simply do not believe you!
Probably the way you just come across I suppose!

Have a great day!

[Green Onions]

Never said there was open seats... I said they were still selling seats. Big difference! Infact the flights were ALL already over sold, (if you are an employee you can see the loads) but you could still buy a ticket online if you were willing to spend that much.

Still dont see how we can expect the flying public to get informed about air travel, if the people in the industry are more interested in slinging mud than using their brain.

[twinpratts]

Anytime you leave pax stranded, it's a bad thing

[Realitychex]

An Omni B767 operated a YHZ-YYT-YHZ-MCO for WJA a few days ago to clear out the backlog......

[aroundthewing]

the people in the industry are more interested in slinging mud than using their brain.

Correct.....welcome to the club champ!

[aroundthewing]

An Omni B767 operated a YHZ-YYT-YHZ-MCO for WJA a few days ago to clear out the backlog......

Soooo....you're proud of the fact that WestJet had to sub uplift from an American Carrier to clean up that mess?

[CanadaEH]

[True North]

An Omni B767 operated a YHZ-YYT-YHZ-MCO for WJA a few days ago to clear out the backlog......

Soooo....you're proud of the fact that WestJet had to sub uplift from an American Carrier to clean up that mess?

Soooo....if I was a WestJetter, or more importantly one of the stranded passengers, I'd say I'm happy the company did whatever they had to do to clean up the mess.

You see a problem with that??

[Lateralus]

An Omni B767 operated a YHZ-YYT-YHZ-MCO for WJA a few days ago to clear out the backlog......

Soooo....you're proud of the fact that WestJet had to sub uplift from an American Carrier to clean up that mess?

Soooo....if I was a WestJetter, or more importantly one of the stranded passengers, I'd say I'm happy the company did whatever they had to do to clean up the mess.

You see a problem with that??

+1

I guess the company should seek guidance from Avcanada next time to see how the local peanut gallery feels before making any major decisions

[aroundthewing]

I guess the company should seek guidance from Avcanada next time to see how the local peanut gallery feels before making any major decisions

Some of the "peanut gallery" members deserved it!

[aroundthewing]

Soooo....if I was a WestJetter, or more importantly one of the stranded passengers, I'd say I'm happy the company did whatever they had to do to clean up the mess.

You see a problem with that??

None whatsoever! Do you?

[Realitychex]

An Omni B767 operated a YHZ-YYT-YHZ-MCO for WJA a few days ago to clear out the backlog......

Soooo....you're proud of the fact that WestJet had to sub uplift from an American Carrier to clean up that mess?

It's called customer care. Do what it takes to fix a problem.

Unfortunately, there are a plethora of outfits in Canada that simply don't have the commitment to customer service, let alone the cash in the bank, to be able to do this sort of thing.

It sounds like you are affiliated with one of those sorts of outfits.

[anonymity]

Yah, you keep bragging there Realitychex, why don't you throw in a " have you seen my T4". while you're bragging about money in the bank, GS is figuring out how he's going to claw back 100 MILLION dollars from the ever faithful owners, that should be a little reality check for you. Of course if you had your own 57s, you wouldn't need to charter, but don't worry, they're just temporary, you know feeling out the market and such for the last 4 years.
Of course, it's a good thing when a company spends some money to clean up their own mess. I know I've seen AC bring in a 777 to clean up YYZ bound pasengers starnded from weather in YYC.

[aroundthewing]

Unfortunately, there are a plethora of outfits in Canada that simply don't have the commitment to customer service, let alone the cash in the bank, to be able to do this sort of thing.

It sounds like you are affiliated with one of those sorts of outfits.

Interesting analogy! Of course you're never wrong......but reread the article. Passengers were stranded for up to 3-4 days due to non-existent WX issues!
You're company (I'm assuming your a WestJet Employee) was unable to provide necessary uplift to YQM for rescue for a few days! Uplift had to be subbed out to an American carrier!
If you're proud of that fact than all the best to you! I'm interested though.... what "plethora of outfits in Canada" would not be able to do this? Of course there are some that would be able provide their own uplift. I'm also aware of the fact that passengers were not happy with your so-called "Customer Service". That's just plain silly of you!!

[aroundthewing]

Yah, you keep bragging there Realitychex, why don't you throw in a " have you seen my T4". while you're bragging about money in the bank, GS is figuring out how he's going to claw back 100 MILLION dollars from the ever faithful owners, that should be a little reality check for you. Of course if you had your own 57s, you wouldn't need to charter, but don't worry, they're just temporary, you know feeling out the market and such for the last 4 years.
Of course, it's a good thing when a company spends some money to clean up their own mess. I know I've seen AC bring in a 777 to clean up YYZ bound pasengers starnded from weather in YYC.

+1

[True North]

Yah, you keep bragging there Realitychex, why don't you throw in a " have you seen my T4". while you're bragging about money in the bank, GS is figuring out how he's going to claw back 100 MILLION dollars from the ever faithful owners, that should be a little reality check for you. Of course if you had your own 57s, you wouldn't need to charter, but don't worry, they're just temporary, you know feeling out the market and such for the last 4 years.
Of course, it's a good thing when a company spends some money to clean up their own mess. I know I've seen AC bring in a 777 to clean up YYZ bound pasengers starnded from weather in YYC.

What a load of tripe.

Nothing I have heard would suggest that GS is looking to "claw back" anything from the employees. Just because it happened in your shop doesn't mean it has to be that way. I would be shocked if anyone at WJ gets a big raise in the coming rounds of negotiations but I would be equally shocked if anyone takes a haircut. Time will tell on that one.

As for the 757s, it's been stated numerous times here and elsewhere, WJ isn't "feeling out the market" they are protecting their core market. They are doing that and making money doing it. If they bought the 757s as you suggest, they would undoubtedly lose money so it looks like sound business from where I sit.

So AC replaced some A320 or EMB flying with their own 777, consolidating several flights at the same time obviously, and this cost them how much?