That was the norm back then with airline network loads in the mid-60s. This summer AC ran a 789 on one of the three daily YVR-YOW departures. WS goes from 2x daily in summer to 0x from November-March. Going from 2x daily to 5-7x weekly makes sense. Going from 2x to 0x makes zero sense, especially if WS were to time flights for Hawaii connections.

On a separate note, WS are going to start codesharing on 20 intra-Europe KL routes out of AMS.

Realistically, are there really that many connections on WS from Ontario (and points east) to Hawaii to make that seasonal route worth it to go year round?

I would be surprised if Ottawa to Hawaii is significant.

There is a lot of traffic between Ottawa and Vancouver even without connections. I would guess a good amount of it is domestic.

Ottawa has a sizable tech community so there should be some onward traffic to Seattle, Portland and California.

Aeromexico increasing YVR-MEX to 3x daily (same as it was in the summer) for Dec. 15 to Jan. 15.

AEROMEXICO INCREASES VANCOUVER SERVICE IN DEC 2022/JAN 2023

I wonder how many Canadian resort-goers use this flight for connecting to PVR, CUN, etc. My hunch is not that many, I think these flights were much cater to Mexicans, Canadians actually going to Mexico City, and of course probably lots of onward connections to other Central and South America locations. I feel like a lot of Canadian going for packed holidays stick to the AC, WS, and WG packages, rather than connecting through Mexico City. Just a guess though. AM does have very healthy capacity to YVR, so whatever the market, seems to be working. Would be cool if they flew the 787 here in the fututre, maybe they will if demand stays high. They don't have a ton of international long haul flights, and they have 18 Dreamliners. I am not sure all the ins and outs of their aircraft cycling, so many 18 Dreamliners is fully utilized with their current timetable, not sure. Would just be nice to see

Pre-pandemic YOW-Hawaii traffic was in the annual 25k range. Obviously there’s a plethora of options for getting to/from. I’m not saying solely relying on that, but you would think WS could be bothered to offer a 73G say X6 in winter on the route. Between O&D, Hawaii, intra-BC, Cali and Pacific NW connections, you’d think it wouldn’t be hard to get an 80% LF with decent yield even in the dead of winter.

This is just one example of how WS has never "gotten it" in central Canada. Here’s another example, on the Eastern triangle, if all you’re doing is acting casual with customers with a “hey guys” mentality on triangle flights, where you actually need more formal professionalism and being able to muster being able to actually make bilingual announcements instead of just playing the on board recordings in French, you’re not exactly endearing yourself when there’s two vastly more professional choices within the triangle. The “hey guys” approach is fine when you’re hauling a plane load of people in central Canada to Disney, but that same approach doesn’t work when you’re chasing after some of the highest RASM pax in the country.

The counter argument to that is Hubs have become much more important today vs 20 years ago. AC and Westjet want to connect you in Toronto and Calgary to maximize their own returns. AC will likely always offer a year round ottawa - Vancouver flight but there may just be easier (and more profitable) to connect via Calgary or Toronto for the airlines for most passengers.

Its the same for AC out of Edmonton, they don't offer a Winnipeg - Edmonton flight, they could do it, but they prefer connecting people in Calgary. Much more profitable.

Growth of Hubs means secondary aviation cities like Ottawa and Edmonton need to fight harder to keep direct flights from mainline carrier.

Here at YUL, the AM check-in counter area is full of Mexicans every time I pass by. I see very little Canadians. It's probably similar in YYZ and YVR.

I think AC would view Vancouver as a hub. I don't think they would view connecting passengers in Calgary or Toronto as more profitable.

If WestJet wants to get a premium on Vancouver-Ottawa they are not likely to get that with a transfer in Calgary.

I think we'll have to wait for YYC-YOW to fully recovery before YVR goes year sound since even YYC is only 7x weekly for a good chunk of the winter schedule.

COMPANY NEWS

News Wire
Oct 24, 2022
Flair Airlines is in talks to merge with ex-Boeing CEO’s SPAC

“Flair Airlines Ltd., a low-cost Canadian airline, is in talks to go public through a merger with New Vista Acquisition Corp., a blank check-firm backed by a former Boeing Co. chief executive officer, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”

“Although it might not be the most ideal nor the only way, Flair Airlines could quickly obtain large amounts of cash if it becomes a publicly traded company. And this is most presumably what a potential merger with New Vista Acquisition Corporation could be about, as going public allows many other companies to invest in Flair Airlines freely.”

“Flair Airlines would be on the stock exchange if the discussions end amicably and any possible merger becomes approved. And if the potential merger deal gets closed, it would leave the budget carrier with an assumed large amount of cash proceeds. The cash can then be used to fund flight operations, support short- and long-term growth, repay debts owed, and other general corporate purposes.”

^ Sounds like 777 Partners and the other owners want to get rid of the company.

A money losing venture trying to go public to raise capital. Where have I seen that before....

Easier said than done. The beginning of the end for this airline it seems...

Yup exactly and YVR is a hub for both AC & WS and it's not like it's a low yield route either. Unlike YWG-YEG which is a hub for nobody, YOW-YVR will probably have lie-flats with AC year-round once enough XLRs are on property around 2028. If you don't want AC, F8 are flying YOW-YVR a few times a week this winter. You'd have to have either have snagged a real junk fare or be an incredibly loyal WS customer to pick WS over the other choices.

Once Porter has some suitable aircraft we should also see them on the route with a 2x2 economy and a 1x2 business cabin.

Looks like Westjet has confirmed on Twitter a few days ago the return of YHZ-Europe in 2023.

https://i.postimg.cc/6qk0mcPY/wj.png

EDIT: Also on their website:

https://i.postimg.cc/HWrMHgDF/wj2.png
https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/flights

This explains why YOW-YHZ on WS mainline is coming back next summer. To feed GLA & DUB. LGW though is gone. YYC-LGW says 'resumes April 29', but YHZ-LGW does not. YVR-LGW is still loaded for summer 2023 at this point. YYZ-LGW says it's resuming in late April 2023, but you currently cannot select any dates for it. So either it's going MAX or is also gone.

Air Canada exercising 15 A220 options to bring the fleet up to 60: https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...893711344.html

So no A220 deliveries in 2023.

In more other news, the Competition Bureau are not in favour of the WG takeover by WS citing reduced leisure competition on 31 routes and : https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...893122856.html

And the competition bureau is right, especially in Western Canada where Air Transat doesn't offer any leisure flights. But who the hell knows what Alghabra will do/enforce. If it's anything similar to his buddy Champagne and his dealings with Rogers/Shaw/Videotron, no one knows what the government will do. I don't believe the competition bureau has the final say right? I believe it's the minister involved?

I can say I won't be flying anywhere warm this winter and we have many friends that are saying the same based on air fares. There will be a leisure monopoly in the west if WestJet and Sunwing merge and prices and options will get worse. You guys in the east are lucky, you have tons of foreign airlines and tons of options and places to go in the winter even to cold places lol. All we have is Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna and Seattle and those places get old quickly.

What about Vegas? Phoenix? California? Mexico? Hawaii?

I will hopefully be spending some time with relatives in California this winter. I have seen reasonable prices fares to all those places you mentioned.