Westjet 60 Hour Delay From LGW

[deicer]

https://www.680news.com/video/2018/06/26/a-60-hour-westjet-flight-delay/

[blues deville]

60 hour delay. Seems a bit excessive for Westjet.

[Guest]

Must have been the 767s based on the passenger numbers quoted. Here is a link to Flyertalk where some are relating their experience.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/westjet-westjet-rewards/1916379-ws4-lgw-yyz-cancelled-sat-june-23-60-hour-delay.html

[boestar]

Every time something like this happens, no matter hat airline it is, there is always a single common thread. COMMUNICATION.

I do not understand why the airline personnel at the bases cannot properly communicate status to the passengers.  Timely updates even if there is no update to give is all that passengers need. 

As for not rebooking them on other airlines, that will come back to bite them.

I am pretty sure that LGW is not meant to be a Westjet destination just by looking at the issues they have had since its inception.

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, boestar said:

Every time something like this happens, no matter hat airline it is, there is always a single common thread. COMMUNICATION.

I do not understand why the airline personnel at the bases cannot properly communicate status to the passengers.  Timely updates even if there is no update to give is all that passengers need. 

As for not rebooking them on other airlines, that will come back to bite them.

I am pretty sure that LGW is not meant to be a Westjet destination just by looking at the issues they have had since its inception.

The real problem is using a limited fleet to serve a busy destination with no backup aircraft.  That of course will be solved when they get their NEW widebody aircraft but until then...…...

[Kasey]

There is also a problem in using "contract staff" as a lot of carriers do in the UK, with only a skeleton (in this case WestJet) number of actual paid employees on hand to oversee.

Therefore this leads to the communication breakdown as the contractors just shrug and say "not my problem"!! IMHO

[boestar]

50 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

The real problem is using a limited fleet to serve a busy destination with no backup aircraft.  That of course will be solved when they get their NEW widebody aircraft but until then...…...

Thats true but why can't the airlines (all airlines) actually communicate with the passengers.

 

Back in January I was flying from YHZ to YYZ.  767 service and stuck way in the back.

We left the gate on time with no indication of any issues.  Once off the gate we PARKED.  The pilot made an announcement  Which explained the situation and offered an apology (why and apology for weather I don't know).  YYZ was under a ground stop due to weather.   

Ok.  good information.  We are stuck until we get a wheels up time.  

Fortunately for the remaining passengers the pilot explained this in some detail and, from what I witnessed, the passengers accepted that reason.

90 minute delay.... A few sighs due to the 90 minutes but life went on.  The crew started serving water which continued.

UH-Oh...that 90 minutes is now 2 hours.....now 3 hours.... Then the pilot comes on and says.  "Company regulations prevent me from keeping you here for more than 4 hours so we are heading to the gate.  This triggered many moans and groans but what can you do.

Just as we were proceeding to the gate we received the wheels up time and the announcement was made as such.  this brought cheers.

We were on our way....finally...

This scenario would have been FAR different if the pilot did not communicate with the passengers as to the status of the delay.  People, especially ones trapped in an aluminium tube, want to know whats going on.  It isn't hard to tell them.

[boestar]

4 minutes ago, Kasey said:

There is also a problem in using "contract staff" as a lot of carriers do in the UK, with only a skeleton (in this case WestJet) number of actual paid employees on hand to oversee.

Therefore this leads to the communication breakdown as the contractors just shrug and say "not my problem"!! IMHO

Well that is a problem that should be addressed by the company.  you want to play in the big leagues then you need to have the right team.

When we took a delay due to mechanical in LHR, the staff there were very helpful.  the delay was not nearly as long since there are several flights and extra metal was found.

 

[Seeker]

Ouch!  250 passenger X $1,800 = $450,000.  That's going to sting a bit.

[boestar]

penny wise pound foolish.  Had they rebooked the passengers as required in the EU then they would have saved a ton of money in all likleyhood

 

[runaway]

Can't be that big of a deal....CBC isn't all over it! 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, runaway said:

Can't be that big of a deal....CBC isn't all over it! 

No but Global is :

https://globalnews.ca/news/4297061/westjet-passengers-eu-compensation-rules/

[Super 80]

8 hours ago, boestar said:

I am pretty sure that LGW is not meant to be a Westjet destination just by looking at the issues they have had since its inception

The loads speak for themselves.

[Fido]

3 hours ago, Super 80 said:

The loads speak for themselves.

 

In my travels I have seen 'Break-Even-Load-Factors' above 200%.

Number of pax does not mean much until compared to other metrics

[boestar]

loads are good but if you cannot move them then they are meaningless because they go elsewhere.

 

[blues deville]

When an aircraft goes AOG at an outbase like LGW, contracted ground staff are usually scheduled to work on other flights during the remaining time of their shifts leaving passengers to fend for themselves.

Not an ideal situation and perhaps what happened here. However, I’ve had experiences in Canada with WS ground staff where their customer service wasn’t much better when they delayed or canceled my flights. 

[boestar]

I have see it with different airlines at MAIN HUBS.  Communication is severely lacking and I can only suppose that is because no one wants to deal with irate passengers so they just clam up.

 

[blues deville]

1 hour ago, boestar said:

I have see it with different airlines at MAIN HUBS.  Communication is severely lacking and I can only suppose that is because no one wants to deal with irate passengers so they just clam up.

 

Good customer service seems to be hit and miss these days. When you do receive it can really make your day. 

And as you mentioned Boestar, it’s all about effective communication. 

[Super 80]

17 hours ago, Fido said:

In my travels I have seen 'Break-Even-Load-Factors' above 200%.

Number of pax does not mean much until compared to other metrics

I was referring to the traveling public, WestJet's well publicized meltdown that was their inaugural season of 767 service to Gatwick followed by episodes like this haven't actually dampened their enthusiasm for the route.

[AIP]

20 hours ago, Super 80 said:

I was referring to the traveling public, WestJet's well publicized meltdown that was their inaugural season of 767 service to Gatwick followed by episodes like this haven't actually dampened their enthusiasm for the route.

People used to fly Jetsgo as well.

[Seeker]

21 hours ago, Super 80 said:

I was referring to the traveling public, WestJet's well publicized meltdown that was their inaugural season of 767 service to Gatwick followed by episodes like this haven't actually dampened their enthusiasm for the route.

People are stupid (and I mean that in the best possible way).  As a group society could be constantly moving toward "better" but since individuals almost always operate on a "best-for-me" basis we get stuck with mediocre service, lower standards and poorer quality.  It's simple - stop buying sh!t and sh!t will disappear from the marketplace.  Stop going to MacDonalds because of unsatisfactory quality and MacDonalds will disappear or change itself into MacDonalds 2.0, if you think the service or quality at Tim's is unacceptable - stop giving them your money.

[Guest]

Perhaps their passengers simply factored in the number of bad flights into the total number of flights and made their decision based on the resulting percentage?

[Guest]

Passenger stuck in London after flight cancelled says WestJet refused to re-book him on another airline

A Canadian WestJet passenger is upset with how the airline handled the cancellation of his flight from London, England, to Toronto late last week.

Passenger rights advocate says airline didn't follow EU regulations

CBC News · Posted: Jul 06, 2018 10:11 AM MT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

 

A Calgary man is frustrated with the way WestJet handled a flight cancellation that stranded him in London last week. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

A Canadian WestJet passenger is upset with how the airline handled the cancellation of his flight from London, England, to Toronto late last week.

Adam St. John said he believes European Union regulations require the airlines to re-book passengers like him at the earliest opportunity.

 

"When I went through, they couldn't help me at the front desk, which was incredibly frustrating because I thought, you know, by sort of sprinting through the airport that I'd have a chance at getting on a new flight," he said.

• Calgarians speak up for air passenger 'bill of rights'

 

St. John said the airline's customer service people refused to get him on another flight, even though it was his understanding, under European Union regulations, airlines must re-book passengers like him at the earliest opportunity.

 

"I hit the first sort of layer of customer service and pressed on that customer representative that I had to be home and that they had this obligation to re-book me," he said.

 

"And the answer was, 'well, no, we're just going to book everyone all at once on our flight two days later."

WestJet says it's sorry

 

"Maybe I was just unlucky. Maybe because I was at the front of the wave they hadn't figured out what their support response was going to be. But when I went through, they couldn't help me at the front desk."

 

Canadian air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs agrees that St. John was mistreated, saying immediate re-booking is one of the options passengers are entitled to, another is financial compensation.

 

"If the passenger says I want the next available flight then they have to remove him on the next available flight, end of story," he said.

In a statement, WestJet said it apologized to the guests and that the cancellation was due to a health problem with a crew member.

The airline said it made every effort to accommodate guests with meals, hotels and alternative flights as soon as possible.

WestJet said a third of the passengers were re-booked on alternative airlines, with some getting out the next day on a WestJet flight. The majority were flown home on a flight 48 hours later.

WestJet adds it will work with guests on compensation and that it does follow EU regulations.

 

Europeans enjoy the world's strongest consumer protections when flying. Their bill of rights outlines how airlines must treat passengers when things go wrong, including generous compensation that can reach up to $900 for the longest delays on long-haul flights. Those rules apply to any flight on a European carrier, but also extend to Canadian carriers if the flight is departing from Europe.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is currently in the midst of a three-month consultation process to help the federal government draft a new passengers' 'bill of rights' to be added to the recently amended Canada Transportation Act. 

[blues deville]

d, e.g. 'pie'

guest (noun)

: a person who is invited to visit the home of or take part in a function organized by another.

 

Finally their choice of names for WS passengers fits the description.