WestJet arrival delayed
B.C. partner airline still awaiting Transport Canada approval
If you’re planning to travel this spring, your flight may be delayed.
Airline officials in Calgary say daily WestJet flights from Lethbridge Airport won’t take off until some time in June.
The connector flights to Calgary, previously advertised as starting next month, are to be flown for WestJet by Pacific Coastal Airlines. The Vancouver-based company flies seaplanes to communities along the British Columbia coast as well as wheeled aircraft to B.C. cities as far east as Cranbrook.
But it hasn’t yet received Transport Canada approval for flights to cities in Alberta, a WestJet spokesperson reports.
The partner air service “underestimated the required time to receive approvals from Transport Canada,” says Lauren Stewart from WestJet headquarters in Calgary. The smaller company was expected to launch new WestJet-coded services to Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Cranbrook, Lloydminster and Prince George before the end of March.
Now those flights may not begin until mid-June, Stewart says, and there’s no announced date for the inaugural Lethbridge flight.
“Impacted guests have been offered several different options,” she adds — including later dates, a full refund or using “alternate transportaion” to Calgary.
The only airborne alternative, Air Canada provides daily Calgary service using a 19-seat Beechcraft commuter plane flown by Torontobased Air Georgian.
Southern Alberta travellers whose WestJet travel has been affected this spring will receive WestJet dollars for use on future flights, Stewart says.
“We again apologize to our guests for this inconvenience and look forward to the launch of WestJet Link in June,” she adds.
News of the delay came as a surprise to officials of Lethbridge County, who own and operate Lethbridge Airport. Reeve Lorne Hickey says the airlines haven’t notified him of the delay. “We really don’t know,” he says. In preparation for the service upgrade, Hickey adds, crews have been creating more passenger counter space and improving baggage facilities.
Contacted in Vancouver, an official in Pacific Coastal’s sales and marketing department was unable to say how long the Canada Transport approval process should take. He did not confirm the now-predicted June start-up.
Privately owned Pacific Coastal currently flies to Kelowna, Trail and Cranbrook as well as to northern B.C. communities including Prince George and Williams Lake. Its floatplane division, based in Port Hardy, serves dozens of remote settlements along the coast.
Its land fleet includes 34-seat Saab turboprop aircraft — like those proposed for the Lethbridge run — as well as smaller 19-seat Beechcraft.
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