WestJet has cut 20 of its US routes, according to published reports, as fewer Canadians head south and conflict in the Middle East continues to impact fuel prices.
The online news site Simple Flying reports that the carrier will suspend the following routes this fall:
| From | To |
|---|---|
| Calgary | Fort Lauderdale |
| Calgary | Kahului/Maui |
| Calgary | Raleigh–Durham |
| Edmonton | Chicago |
| Edmonton | Nashville |
| Edmonton | San Francisco |
| Edmonton | Seattle |
| Halifax | Orlando |
| St. John's | Orlando |
| Toronto | Las Vegas |
| Toronto | Los Angeles |
| Vancouver | Boston |
| Vancouver | Nashville |
| Vancouver | Orlando |
| Vancouver | San Diego |
| Vancouver | San Francisco |
| Vancouver | Tampa |
| Winnipeg | Atlanta |
| Winnipeg | Nashville |
| Winnipeg | Orlando |
As reported by Open Jaw this February, the airline suspended 17 routes this Summer, representing a 32% drop in available seat capacity compared to schedules published just three weeks earlier.
At the time, some routes were removed from schedules entirely, with others seeing significant reductions in frequency and seat availability.
In June, WestJet confirmed it would be adjusting fall capacity as well, planning to reduce flying by approximately 4% in September and by less than 3% in October.
“These updates better align capacity with demand, while maintaining operational reliability,” WestJet said in an online statement at the time.
That same month, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech told Skift the airline hadn’t seen decreased demand.
“We were expecting that the higher airfares would lead to lower demand, but we don’t see it,” he told the publication. "We haven’t cancelled a single route.”
As Simple Flying reports, Air Transat has dropped its Canada-US routes, and Flair has also cut back on some services. Air Canada is also trimming its transborder network, delaying or removing eight routes, including services from Toronto Pearson (YYZ), Montréal–Trudeau (YUL), Ottawa, and Québec City.
As Open Jaw has extensively covered, transborder travel from Canada to the US has been declining for the last year and a half due to political tensions and strict border policies.
