It’s been awhile since I’ve written a Lethbian Loathe post, let alone anything else. “Fuck,” with regards to WestJet, is an emphatic and appropriate word here, and I’ll get to why.
I’m a remote worker, but my job requires travel. Meetups, events, destinations I never expected to visit. It’s a requirement, not an option. So what happens when the only airline servicing your city decides to leave?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/westjet-regional-routes-southern-alberta-9.7105848
This summer, travellers will have no option but to drive hours and fly out of Calgary.
We are a single car household. I cannot drive to Calgary. The Red Arrow bus to YYC is an option, technically. So is renting a car. Neither are good, for personal nor professional reasons.
Lethbridge had reactions:
- https://old.reddit.com/r/Lethbridge/comments/1rd3rem/westjet_terminating_service_between_lethbridge
- https://old.reddit.com/r/Lethbridge/comments/1rdv2wr/westjet_pulling_service_from_lethbridges_airport
Air Canada left in 2020. I miss them, ironically. Their service was terrible, but at least it was reliably terrible. But not like what we (won’t) have. WestJet is done with Lethbridge and Medicine Hat as of June 24, 2026. A city of 100,000+ people, and the airport is functionally decorative.
The City of Lethbridge used $2.6 million in municipal funds to leverage more than $23 million in federal and provincial grants; over $25 million in total public investment in that terminal, starting in 2022. They were the only reason most of us could use the place, and they still couldn’t make it work.
The City is talking to other carriers. There’s still hope, apparently. That renovated terminal is just sitting there in the meantime.
https://www.lethbridge.ca/news/posts/the-faq-on-yql
WestJet used to mean something. It was the wholesome alternative; the airline Canadians actually liked. Canadian Airlines is long gone. WestJet was supposed to be different.
It isn’t. Allow me a moment to share a true experience while also on a rant.
My recent thing: I missed a flight because there were two WestJet staff at YQL. One handled check-in and baggage. The other scanned tickets. The check-in person walked onto the tarmac mid-process, just gone, and that was that. I’d already cleared security. No exceptions were made. Fly without my essentials, or stay home. I stayed home.
Before that: a meetup with a perfect itinerary, until WestJet shifted my flights one day earlier and one day later. Two extra nights at a Calgary airport hotel. Significant additional cost. Three hours of sleep. Thanks, WestJet.
And then, last week, WestJet cramming extra rows into their planes went viral; a family unable to fit into their seats, a passenger physically trapped and unable to stand on his own. A flight attendant had already filed a formal safety hazard report with Transport Canada weeks earlier, flagging it as an imminent risk. Transport Canada said it was monitoring the situation. WestJet eventually reversed the seating layout. Eventually.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/transport-canada-westjet-seating-layout-hazard-9.7142069
And today, my sister. A “delay” due to “maintenance.” Then a full cancellation on the last leg; Calgary to Lethbridge. My wife and son drove out to get her. Five-plus hours, round trip. People need to stretch their legs, eat, use a bathroom. Fuck off, WestJet.
About that word, “maintenance.” CBC’s Go Public found this week that WestJet has been citing safety-related maintenance to cancel flights and deny passengers compensation, while quietly reassigning those same planes to more profitable routes. It’s a pattern. If this has happened to you, it’s worth looking into your rights under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/westjet-passenger-flights-cancelled-9.7143680
If you fly, you’re not the only one up shit creek without a paddle. There are roughly 95,000 complaints sitting in the Canadian Transportation Agency backlog right now, some waiting up to three years to be resolved. Parliament ordered airlines to help pay for that process in 2023. WestJet lobbied against it, the transport minister echoed their exact language back to the regulator, and the fee has been watered down to the point where taxpayers are still covering up to 90 per cent of the cost. The system is working exactly as the airlines intended. File the complaint anyway. Because if you don’t, they’ll keep counting on you not to.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/cta-lowers-air-passenger-complaints-fee-9.7148051
Yes. This is a rant. It won’t change anything. But what the hell okay.
Featured image via Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/westjet/comments/1drwqow/thank_you_for_ruining_my_vacation_west_jet/
I’m a webslinger located in Lethbridge, AB. I love all things nerdy, like cartoons and videogames, and am also a bit of a foodie. When I travel, I always keep my eyes out for hot springs and great places to adventure with my wife, Melissa.