Starting October 27 there will only be one flight to and from the Lethbridge airport each day, but travellers say they are already seeing scheduling changes being implemented.
Harold Pereverseff is a frequent traveller from Lethbridge. He decided to book a flight to Barcelona, Spain for the end of September. His original flight itinerary had him returning from Barcelona to Calgary and then to Lethbridge in the same day.
Pereverseff was notified last week that there was a schedule change to his Calgary to Lethbridge flight and he wouldn’t be departing Calgary until the following day. Given the extra night on this trip, Pereverseff says he has no way to get home given he is also unable to make a connection through Red Arrow.
Herald file photo – Ground crew set up the ramp and roll out the red carpet for passengers for the kick off of WestJet service in Lethbridge in 2018 at the Lethbridge Airport.
Starting October 27 there will only be one flight to and from the Lethbridge airport each day, but travellers say they are already seeing scheduling changes being implemented.
Harold Pereverseff is a frequent traveller from Lethbridge. He decided to book a flight to Barcelona, Spain for the end of September. His original flight itinerary had him returning from Barcelona to Calgary and then to Lethbridge in the same day.
Pereverseff was notified last week that there was a schedule change to his Calgary to Lethbridge flight and he wouldn’t be departing Calgary until the following day. Given the extra night on this trip, Pereverseff says he has no way to get home given he is also unable to make a connection through Red Arrow.
“With WestJet’s schedule change, we did look at taking a Red Arrow or FlixBus back to Lethbridge from Calgary, but the connection doesn’t work there. So, we’re stuck in Calgary.
In an interview with the Herald, Andy Gibbons, vice-president of external affairs for WestJet, says the reasoning behind the shift was because the agreement between Pacific Coastal Airlines, which was made in 2018, was coming to an end. Instead of resigning the same agreement, WestJet chose to transition to a different aircraft to potentially better serve the people of Lethbridge.
“The agreement was expiring and we made a commercial decision to transition to WestJet Encore service, which is a different and larger aircraft to serve the Lethbridge Market,” said Gibbons.
While the aircraft will only run once a day, it will be able to carry over double the amount of passengers with 78 seats than the current Lethbridge aircraft which only has 32 seats. With the extra cargo space, Gibbons believes it will be more equipped to better serve travellers of the Lethbridge area.
“This is a bigger aircraft that has more seats, that has more cargo space, and has the ability to, we believe, serve the market more effectively with the flight times we’ve landed on,” said Gibbons.
Once the official change is implemented there will be an early morning flight departing Lethbridge and a late flight returning to Lethbridge, time other communities are envious of.
“I think once the community gets used to that aircraft and that service that has a consistent flight time, I think people are going to welcome it,” said Gibbons
Gibbons understands the importance of having air services in communities such as Lethbridge, so WestJet will be sending representatives down beginning of October to discuss with community members about the changes and how to make it successful.
“We want to be a better community partner, but we also want the community to be enrolled in the success and it takes both of us to make it work. So, we will be sending the team to Lethbridge in early October to meet with the business community, meet with our guests, meet with leaders and just talk about what this change is and how we can both make it successful,” said Gibbons.
While new beginnings can be hard, Gibbons is excited to see what this fresh start brings to Lethbridge.
“It’s a fresh start and sometimes a fresh start is good and that’s what we’re going to be bringing in.”