I re-post in full Jane Boyd's story on what Westjet did to ensure that their passengers (Guests indeed!) were not abandoned this Christmas. They should be rewarded by our support.
Travel across Canada this Christmas week has been an awful experience for many due to the severe winter weather conditions. Despite this, Westjet pulled out all of the stops to try and keep their customers happy. Compare all of this service to the experience some Air Canada passengers had trying to get to Toronto. Way to go Westjet!
From a Westjet Press Release earlier today:
At one point in time, in the wake of the severe weather, WestJet was
faced with as many as 4,500 guests who would not have made it home in time for
Christmas if the airline did not demonstrate its can-do attitude.
"We regret we were unable to get this number down to zero," lamented Ken
McKenzie. Despite our best efforts, 130 guests remained to be flown, which is
the equivalent of one flight, as of December 25th."
Here is a breakdown of what WestJet spent between December 20 and today,
in an effort to get our guests home
- More than 6,000 hotel rooms were provided free of charge to stranded
guests at a cost of more than $500,000
- More than 25,000 meal vouchers were provided to guests in airports at
a cost of approximately $220,000.
- $250,000 on ground transportation including taxis and chartered buses
- Aircraft were chartered from third party airlines at a cost of
approximately $325,000 to assist in clearing the backlog of stranded
guests.
Above and beyond the dollars and cents, there are hundreds of stories of
WestJetters who went the extra mile during this period, including one employee
who ran 10 kilometres to work in minus 20 degree weather after his car broke
down, and countless office staff who manned check-in counters, baggage belts
and other locations.
