The airline used to be synonymous with fun with and staff had a genuine sense of care for the customer. Fun ended when sold to Onex (think stocks as its publicly traded) in a 5 billion deal. Later, mandated changes forcing early retirements or moves elsewhere made matters even worse with pilot shortages now common place.
To compensate for overall worse level of service, the privilege of purchased seats has been added. Its random assignment with no guarantee otherwise. Baggage fees and plane re-configurations have resulted in “our flight is full today and we won’t have room for all carry-on” announcement all the time. Even airline class can change. Flying Westjet? Leave on Swoop! Don’t expect notification of magically missing seats on that one.
If the company change resulted in a loss of paid services there is no automatic refund. Instead, navigate “direct your call hell” to wait for an agent and hope for reimbursement after a detailed explanation. If baggage is lost or damaged good luck finding staff at the destination when the flight was pushed to end of day. Once again its navigate call hell or try the online process which has no email confirmation or status indicator showing the matter is under investigation.
Delays and cancellations add to WestJet woes. Never mind weather, often its lack of “staff”, loosely translated “no pilots”. Many delays are just long enough to avoid compensation while allowing time to ensure a full flight. Not suspicious at all. Equally not suspicious is “random” customs inspections with a one hour window to a connector only to discover said connector was somehow full without all the missing passengers.
In case the experience wasn’t grief ridden enough, airport gate change hell rears it head. Usually at larger airports like Pearson or Calgary where it seems entertaining to watch women with children, the aged, or disabled attempt to keep up. Don’t think about a ride either – unavailable or the terminal is split by levels.
Obviously the airline isn’t responsible for airport stupidity but it all contributes to a dismal experience. Is it shortsightedness, greed, or both? Definitely no longer fun or exciting and certainly some manipulation to increase profits. Sad to see an airline with potential end up just another in a long line of bad experiences, but I guess some are profiting through this endeavor.