Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press Published Thursday, June 30, 2022, 5:44 p.m. EDT Last updated Thursday, June 30, 2022, 5:47 p.m. EDT
CALGARY – As Canada’s travel industry continues to grapple with an unprecedented recovery in demand, WestJet Airlines Ltd. operated 32 percent fewer flights to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport in July than before the pandemic.
Chief Executive Officer Alexis von Hoensbroch said Calgary-based WestJet made a series of proactive schedule cuts between March and May in anticipation of the logistical issues that have led to the long lines, disrupted connections and canceled flights that travelers have faced at Canadian airports in recent weeks.
“I don’t think there’s another airline that serves Toronto that has reduced its schedule as much as we have,” von Hohensbroch said in an interview Thursday. “We have been quite proactive and thoughtful in dealing with our flight plans.”
As Canada’s largest airport, Toronto Pearson has been the epicenter of travel-related issues affecting travelers in this country since the lifting of public health restrictions related to COVID. Airlines and airports, which drastically cut staffing levels when air travel nearly ground to a halt at the start of the pandemic, have found themselves unprepared for the dramatic resurgence in demand this spring.
WestJet, for example, which hit a pandemic low of just 4,000 employees in 2020, has increased its headcount to 10,000, but that’s still nearly 30 percent less than the 14,000 it had in 2019 .
“We’ve hired more than 1,000 people in the last few months and now we’re hiring another 100 people just to deal with the baggage challenges. We have increased our call center staff by 20 percent,” von Hoensbroch said.
“We are doing what we can to recruit, but we also know that across all industries we are seeing staff shortages. It’s not just a WestJet problem, it’s not just an aviation problem – it’s an economy-wide problem.
According to analyst firm Data Wazo, 54 percent of domestic flights to Canada’s four largest airports were delayed or canceled in the past week. Toronto’s Pearson Airport was hardest hit, with more than 700 flights (51 per cent) delayed and 15 per cent cancelled.
On Wednesday night, Air Canada said it would cut more than 15 percent of its July and August schedule, more than 9,500 flights, because of the strained air transportation system. Most of Air Canada’s flights will eliminate the connection to the airline’s hubs of Toronto and Montreal.
But von Hoensbroech said that because WestJet had moved earlier to reduce capacity in Toronto, it does not expect to have to make further “structural” cuts to its summer schedule.
“It may still happen that we have to cancel flights at short notice, as has happened in the last few weeks,” he said. “But it should be to a limited extent.”
Airports in other parts of the country operate much more smoothly than Pearson, von Hoensbroech said. In the Alberta market, for example, WestJet has returned to its pre-pandemic level of flight offerings, and things are going relatively well.
Nationally, WestJet is operating approximately 530 flights per day this summer, or 25% fewer flights than in summer 2019.
“We have the advantage of having most of our capacity in western Canada, and western Canada is less affected by these operational challenges,” he said.
Earlier this year, aviation industry officials blamed COVID-19 protocols, such as Canada’s requirement for random testing of international arrivals, for contributing to airport bottlenecks.
But problems continued to escalate this month despite the federal government’s decision to suspend that program, as well as other measures such as federal hiring of security and customs officials.
“I think the only party to blame for this is the pandemic. Because that’s where the problems come from,” von Hohensbroch said. “I think what we can really say is that there isn’t a single party that hasn’t done their homework. Everyone is trying to solve this problem.”
Von Hoensbroech said WestJet has done extensive contingency planning for the Canada Day long weekend, which is expected to deliver the country’s highest travel volumes since 2019. However, he said the airline’s operating parameters, while and improved in recent weeks, are still “far from good” – with passengers unlikely to see a significant reprieve until travel volumes fall in September.
“Fingers are crossed for it to be a relatively stable weekend.” But again, the challenges are there,” he said. “After the summer break, things should look significantly better. . . And next year we hope to be in a good position again.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 30, 2022.
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