The Canadian airline exodus from U.S. destinations shows no signs of abating.
Multiple reports say WestJet is temporarily suspending a series of planned summer routes, including flights to such popular spots as Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Bloomberg reports nine routes are being put aside for now, including Vancouver-Austin (previously reported by Open Jaw), and Edmonton-Atlanta, Winnipeg-Las Vegas, Winnipeg-Los Angeles and Kelowna-Seattle. The latter four suspensions are for July and August.
CTV News is reporting that flights between Edmonton and Chicago O'Hare have been delayed until late June. It also says WestJet has reduced frequencies of flights from Edmonton to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Nashville and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Several published reports say WestJet is also trimming flights between Calgary and New York LaGuardia, and between Edmonton and Orlando. Both of those changes were previously reported by Open Jaw.
“WestJet continuously evaluates and adjusts its schedule to meet demand, and we remain committed to reviewing opportunities for direct service on these routes in the future,” WestJet spokesman Joshn Yeats said in a statement. Meanwhile, WestJet has increased domestic flights as well as services to Europe “to help Canadians fly where they want to go,” he said.
WestJet recently announced new flights to Europe from YHZ, including service to CDG, AMS and BCN. The airline also said it would return popular flights from YHZ to LGW, DUB and EDI.
Air Canada on 05MAY said it was adding new flights to South America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. A spokesman told Open Jaw some of the changes are a reallocation of US flights, but also due to the acquisition of new aircraft by Air Canada.
On a related note, a new survey by the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (who knew?) says 88% of Canadians would rather take road trips within Canada than venture to the U.S., and only 8% plan to cross the border. Slightly more than one-half (51%) of Canadian drivers surveyed said they have cancelled previously planned U.S. road trips.
