WestJet cancels flights due to COVID-related employee shortage

Many employees of WestJet Airlines are infected with the Omicron variant, leading the Canadian carrier to cut 15% of its scheduled flights through to the end of January.

“We are running roughly 450 flights a day, so if you look at the percentages that works out to be about 60 or 70 flights that you might see that would be cancelled per day and then consolidated on to other flights,” said WestJet VP of communications Richard Bartrem.

Bartrem added that WestJet is currently rejigging flights and contacting passengers.

“For example, where we may have four or five flights to a particular destination over the course of the day, we might consolidate that into two or three and then take the people who are flying on those other flights that have now been cancelled and moving them on to the flights that will continue to operate.”

He said passengers will have the option of taking another flight or receiving a full refund.