WS November schedule is now visible on OAG.

So far, I've only found YYZ-FLL & YVR-PVR as additional routes added back. Both 1x weekly on Saturday.
EDIT: Also found YYZ-RSW too.

YYC-Mexico on Saturdays jumps to 6 flights as CUN / PVR & SJD all have 2 departures now. CUN & PVR also gained Sunday departures too.

YYZ-CUN also increases to 3x weekly (2 deps Sat / 1 Sun)

YYC-PHX & PSP both jump to 4x weekly. WS will also have its first afternoon Transborder departure too.

As previously mentioned YYC-LGW is being consolidated into YYZ-LGW.

EDIT: Following intl/US routes planned in November:

WS0003 YYZ-LGW
WS1184 YYZ-RSW
WS1232 YYZ-FLL
WS1402 YYC-PHX
WS1468 YYC-PSP
WS1472 YYC-PSP
WS1510 YYC-LAX
WS2154 YVR-PVR
WS2246 YYC-PVR
WS2250 YYC-PVR
WS2254 YYC-CUN
WS2290 YYC-SJD
WS2292 YYC-SJD
WS2310 YYC-CUN
WS2580 YYZ-CUN
WS2582 YYZ-CUN
WS2600 YYZ-KIN
WS2702 YYZ-MBJ

So is there going to be YYC-YYZ-LGW same-plane thru service?

Sorry, I meant that their just funneling all the traffic via YYZ. Poor choice of words on my part. :haha:

Though you could fly a 789 from YYC to YYZ then LGW on those days.

On that note, they've also increased YYC-YYZ 787 service to daily. It was briefly believed it would reduced to 3x weekly.

Figured I'd miss at least one. There's also:

WS1722 YVR-PSP

This means WS will have three flights to PSP on Thursday / Sundays.

AF celebrates 70 years of service to Canada
 

Earlier this month, AF celebrated 70 years of service to Canada.

Air France’s presence in Canada dates back to October 2, 1950, when the Lockheed Constellation 749 left ORY and touched down at YUL after stopovers in SNN and YQX. There were 74 passengers on board.

In 1976, they inaugurated YYZ with B747 service. The flight continued onto LAX until 1978. After that year YYZ was served one stop via YMX until 1990. Non stop flights to YYZ were inaugurated in 1994.

YVR was added in March 2015.

Nice video in the following link with archive footage from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and so on. Some nice shots of ORY, YUL and CDG from back then.

https://news.paxeditions.com/news/ai....trafalgar.com

There is also a good overview of AF-KL routes to Canada this November and December at the bottom of the page.

It's still hilarious that KLM will better connect Western Canada to Europe in November than either AC or WS. (9x weekly to YYC/YVR/YEG vs 5x weekly AC YVR-LHR vs nothing on WS) and restoring all of their Canadian destinations.

Also looks like WS will be announcing details about its first flagship lounge at YYC next week:
http://westjet.mediaroom.com/2020-10...ent-in-Calgary

EU airlines received government aid. Canadian ones didn't.

WestJet announced it begin issuing refunds for cancelled flights starting November 2
https://blog.westjet.com/its-about-time/

Fair point. However with the EU removing Canada from its "safe" list, its curious if that could result in those schedules being scaled back.

Has the EU followed through with this already or is it still in discussion? And do I assume correctly that this would include the UK?

Apparently a very misleading statement from Westjet.

AC tweeted that WJ is only catching up now to refund refundable fares.

AC pointing out the obvious. For decades AC had the reputation for being the indifferent airline while WS was the customer friendly airline. Last two-three years it has been reversed.

I would like to thing we are going back to the "old days" of airlines where they needed to compete with service to win over customers.

WS had taken over the old independent lounge in A concourse in Calgary while it built its own. Sounds like the new lounge is coming along.
https://blog.westjet.com/flagship-lounge/

WestJet is planning to offer refunds to all fares, including non-refundable ones as long they cancelled the flight. Air Canada has only been offering refunds in fully refundable class fares (for now) is what I think was meant.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/heard-lou...ghts-1.5155059

Government will begin a pilot program at YYC in November, introducing rapid testing as an alternative to 14 day quarantine.

https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?x...3CF878164FB904

This is excellent news, one which the airlines were waiting for desperately. Hopefully the trial runs go well and it can be deployed nationally.

The Canadian aviation industry needs all the help it can get right now.

YYC September Stats:

Domestic: 310,617 (-71%) YTD: 3,533,586 (-63.18%)
Transborder: 9,414 (-96.8%) YTD: 751,809 (-71.91%)
International: 6,086 (-95.8%) YTD: 475,871 (68.25%)
September Total: 326,117 -78.7%

2020 YTD: 4,761,266 -65.43%

Despite a reduction in Transborder/International flights numbers still grew compared to August.

Over 10% better than YOW in terms of percentage decline. YOW of course is vastly more affected than YYC in terms of the Atlantic Bubble. However, WS are putting all their eggs into YYC where their Calgary departure count in November is double that of YYZ.

WS already taking advantage of the newly announced pilot program at YYC. They are having a seat sale from Alberta to Sun Destinations, including ones they don't currently fly to.

Sale applies to HNL, OGG, MCO, LAS, HUX, MZT after December 5. I'm skeptical of Hawaii happening, but otherwise the others don't surprise me.

https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/lowfar...iscount-code/2

It was a smaller decline than I was expecting. September typically is a slower month and many routes reduced their frequencies.

Western airports may have been able to hold on to domestic traffic better than our eastern counterparts as there isn't many other options to travel to other cities outside of air. Rail and even bus connectivity far better out east.

Not to mention driving. Bus, not so much as Greyhound ops are still suspended, including moving out of the Ottawa terminal on Catherine St. Also doesn’t hurt that Flair retreated back to the west, save for YYZ.

Via did just announce that the Canadian will resume weekly service along the YWG-YVR portion of the route. But that’s minuscule in terms of impact.

Feds finishing up detals of airline aid package:

The federal cabinet is deliberating a targeted bailout package for Canada’s airline industry that includes offers of low interest loans and rollbacks of airport fee increases to help it cope with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The package of options that cabinet is reviewing recognizes that air travel is essential to the Canadian economy, and could come in the November economic statement or the next federal budget, expected in February or March, according to a senior government official and three industry sources. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources because the the government official is not authorized to discuss cabinet deliberations, and the others are not authorized to speak on behalf of their companies.

The federal government plans to make financial support conditional on two potentially controversial requirements: Public money cannot be used to pay air executives, and carriers may be asked to restart flights on routes that have been closed during the pandemic, according to the government source...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/poli...ilout-package/

Air Canada has quietly added YYZ-DOH starting Dec 15

AC58/59 B787-9