WestJet Considers Charter Planes to Curb Serious Backlog

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Toronto’s freezing temperature has caused a completely chaotic situation for air travellers, particularly for those trying to get pass through Toronto’s Pearson airport as it has halted planes from landing since Tuesday morning. The ground stop was mostly a consequence of bitter cold and wind chills that caused equipment to freeze and put workers at risk on icy ramps.

According to a spokesperson of WestJet Airlines, Robert Palmer, the airline has overall cancelled a total of 86 flights in and out of Toronto since Monday, and it expects the figure to increase as the day goes on. During a telephone interview, Mr. Palmer alleged that “it’s changing by the hour,” and right now “we have 4,500 guests who are not where they are supposed to be, and we have many guests who do not have their luggage.” Moreover, he explained that the backlog is growing consciously as it has begun causing ripple effects across the country since Toronto is WestJet’s busiest hub.

Mr. Palmer revealed that “we are exploring the opportunity to charter aircraft,” while highlighting that “that’s how serious this is, to rent planes and pilots to get people where they need to be as quickly and safely as possible.” Furthermore, he added that even if WestJet is able to arrange other planes, they will not likely arrive in Toronto before Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and so “at this point, we don’t know if we can. We are looking at it as an option.” Palmer added that “you can’t pick up the phone and order up a plane and have it delivered to you like a pizza in 45 minutes.”

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