The disruption is expected to last until early next week.
Severe cold weather has led to the cancellation of more than 460 WestJet flights across Canada this week, since Thursday, Jan. 11, and it’s expected to cause continued travel disruptions in the Prairie region into early next week.
“We sincerely apologize to guests who have been impacted by cancellations and delays, resulting from ongoing extreme cold temperatures affecting Canada’s prairie region,” WestJet said in a
statement issued on Jan. 14.
“With Calgary, AB as WestJet’s main hub and the majority of our operations based in Western Canada, the effects of four consecutive days of frigid temperatures are having a compounding impact on our operations, our crew and partners who are battling these conditions to maintain our network.”
Throughout the week, WestJet has experienced a surge in flight cancellations, with 87 on Jan. 11, 104 on Jan. 12, 153 on Jan. 13, and an additional 120 on Jan. 14, totalling 464. Overnight on Friday, Jan. 12, a winter storm system affected WestJet operations in Ontario, leading to nine flight diversions to and from Toronto, according to WestJet.
The disruption is expected to last until early next week. The company has introduced
flexible change/cancel guidelines for guests travelling to or from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba between Jan. 11 and Jan. 15, 2024.
“We sincerely thank our guests for their ongoing patience as our teams and partners on the ground, in the air and behind the scenes work tirelessly, battling frigid temperatures, to ensure a safe operation,” WestJet vice-president David Powell said in a
Jan. 12 statement.
“Your travel plans are extremely important to us, and we are committed to providing timely and proactive communication as we work to restore our operations as the weather forecast evolves.”
Air Canada issued
a warning on social media platform X on Jan. 12, saying that winter weather will impact markets across North America this weekend.
In response to long wait times at its call centres, WestJet is urging travellers to only contact customer service within the 72-hour window before their flight and not earlier. Passengers are also advised to
check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Winter Weather
As of the morning of Jan. 14, Environment Canada has issued
weather alerts for nearly all regions across Canada.
In the Prairies, “extreme cold” warnings have been issued for many areas in Alberta, including
Calgary,
Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park,
Banff National Park, and
Jasper National Park. Morning temperatures ranged from minus 35 to minus 45 degrees Celsius, with wind chills between minus 45 and minus 55. Temperatures will begin to moderate on Monday, Jan. 15, especially across southern Alberta, according to Environment Canada.
Comparable warnings have also been issued for several cities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, including
Winnipeg,
Regina, and
Saskatoon. These conditions are expected to be ongoing through Tuesday, Jan. 16.
Over a dozen areas across British Columbia are also listed as experiencing hazardous cold weather, with wind chill temperatures dropping to a low of minus 50 in
some locations. The
Whistler area and the
eastern Fraser Valley, outside Metro Vancouver, are experiencing Arctic air combined with strong winds that are generating wind chill temperatures near minus 20. These frigid conditions are anticipated to begin moderating by Monday, Jan. 15, Environment Canada said.
