WestJet continues to work with Transport Canada and other regulators while awaiting the impending software enhancements and training requirements for the Boeing MAX aircraft.
We are reassured by the thorough process being followed that safety, not timing, remains at the forefront. As the timing for MAX return to service remains unknown, WestJet has proactively removed the MAX from our network schedule through November 4.
Our teams around our network continue to work day and night to protect our guests’ travel plans. Since the day the skies closed to the MAX on March 13, 2019, we have maintained 98 per cent of our total planned departures, meaning of approximately 175,000 flights, we cancelled only 3,661. For the same time frame we had 9,225 MAX flights planned and we covered off almost 6,000 of them with other aircraft from our fleet.
The following routes have been adjusted. Route suspensions are temporary, and WestJet remains committed to resuming these flights once our MAX fleet returns to service:
- Flights between Halifax and Paris have been suspended for the remainder of the summer 2019 season
- Flights between Edmonton/Montreal and Edmonton/Ottawa will continue to operate as overnight service
- Flights between Vancouver and Regina have been suspended for the remainder of the summer 2019 season
- Flights between Toronto and Kelowna, BC have been suspended for September and October
- Flights between Toronto and St. John’s will operate twice instead of three-times daily
- Details on schedules, timing and the operating aircraft can be found in the booking flow on westjet.com
We are in the process of contacting any guests whose travel plans may be impacted to offer them choice and flexibility in advance of their travel date.
We understand the uncertainty our guests, WestJetters and partners have faced, and we thank them again for their continued patience. We look forward to returning the aircraft, safer than ever, to the skies.