Westjet "New and Improved" res system

[jjj]

Blastor,

I missed ya bro.

How's grade 10 treating you?

[Galaxy]

I don't feel many of your frustrations as I am not trying to travel on, or work at WJ, but for pete's sake, take a chill pill. I'd assume most of you are pilots on this forum, or at least closely tied with aviation. You know the intricacy and crazy logistics involved. By no means possible is WJ trying to make it as hard as possible for you to travel on their airline. Have some compassion for them. I can understand you flying AC because you don't have to/want to wait 3 hours to speak with someone, but come on, there's no need to bash them or exile them from your future travel plans.

Grow up and be supportive of one of Canada's best airlines. After all, we're really all in this mess together!

[greenasgrass]

Galaxy, pick up at phone, and place it next to your ear for in excess of two hours. At the end of it all, put the phone down without any resolution to your dilemma, with the exception of hearing once again that "we are working on the small glitches". Maybe, just maybe, then you'll have an appreciation for what I feel. As for compassion, I gave them my fair share over the Air Canada fiasco.. so 'nuff said.

I'm all grown up, but thanks for your concern. As for support, I support them numerous times a month as I travel. As a small part of the paying public, I believe I have a right to vent my displeasure. "One of Canada's best airlines"? Hard not to be when we only have 3 to start with, wouldn't you agree? Besides, it's the paying public that will make or break them... that's the bottom line... maybe I need to be corrected on that statement, as it may well be the employees that need to dig a little deeper to compensate for the loss of traffic.

And no, we are not really all in this mess together. Red team has to be delighted that they are not the brunt of the air travellers dismay this time!

[yycflyguy]

I gotta admit that I am somewhat taken aback to read the WS customer service bashing. It sounds like the same complaints regarding AC customer service not so long ago.

[AME 283]

Westjet when they started they were good, since they have grown they have lost where they came from. They are becoming more like Air Canada daily. Trust worthy they are not (proven in court by Air Canada), now predatory prices against other smaller airlines, customer service dropping steadily -alas the Wallmart syndrome maybe good for the consumer in the short term but not necessarily in the long term. Westjet needs to have a good look at themselves and maybe this fiasco will do that for them. Personally I think Canada has the best aviation system in the world (in spite of our politically motivated regulators), and I hope to see it remain healthy, not only for customers but also for those of us who are devoted enough to try and make a living in aviation

[.80@410]

I am not saying wj hiring practises are perfect.

However I can't stand sick bstards who take pleasure in others pain or suffering.

.80

[Flying Nutcracker]

It's amazing how everybody "cares" when extraordinary situations negatively affect themselves, yet get all defensive when the onus is on themselves...

If you were not directly affected by this situation... would you have such a negative attitude about WJA, or any other airline for that matter??? Or is this another B J*NG conspiracy attitude? Just because there is a little set back in a system that pretty much rules the operation of an airline... it is just temporary! Soon everybody will be back to looking for the cheapest price for the most travel and life will be back to it's good old self... only a tad better perhaps!

Pilots... so bloody negative and opinionated!!! And perhaps... I might be one of them?

[jet a1]

i just spent 2hrs on hold, finally got to talk to someone and he tried to transfer me to his supervisor and i got hung up on!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhh at least casino is on tv i'm back at the end of the line once again... gotta laugh about this stuff.
hope they get everything worked out soon.

[5dayer]

Jetblue shut down completely for 3 days when they brought in this system.There is no seamless transition but it will be a lot better system when the kinks are worked out.And dont think other airlines havnt had similar issues over the years. As for Westjets customer service,look at last christmas when the weather fiasco took place and Westjet put people up in hotels when AC did sweet F all for their passangers .Its funny how fast people forget.

[~Hollywood~]

Called at 03:30 and only had to wait an hour and a half!

No problems booking recip jump seat either, i think i might be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel

[balfour]

No positive posts please.

[Raybanman]

I booked recip yesterday. Was on the standby line for 1:03. But I got to talk to someone. I'll wait an hour on a free phone call to get a $25 flight. You can't honestly complain about the recip line being slow.

[Stoptheworld]

No positive posts please.

Maybe that should be made a sticky

[C-FABH]

I gotta admit that I am somewhat taken aback to read the WS customer service bashing. It sounds like the same complaints regarding AC customer service not so long ago.

Loyalty. Guess it doesn't exist anymore.

[jet a1]

can anyone give me some info on using a "partner pass". i waited on hold again today, finally talked to a very nice lady in texas and she told me that she couldn't help me with the partner passes... she told me to call after 9pm becuase that' when the westjet people take over the phone lines....problem is lastnight the westjet guy didn't know how to book me either... anyone else run into this?

[Tiny Voices]

Spouses, travel companions, parents, buddy pass holders call the temporary employee stby travel line. I don't have it handy but think someone posted earlier in this thread. If not, get a hold of your travel partner. Cheers!

[jet a1]

thanks...i have that number and it's the one i called and ended up in texas

[ez4u2say]

Just tried to get a lousy hotel room booking via RBC visa points and they put me on hold with a special note to advise those waiting that things are taking much longer than normal due to problems relating to West Jet issues..and I don't even want to travel on WJ...it's probably the same in trying to use your Air Mile points...oh well, I got time I'm retired, but it is very frustrating...seems to me the airline I worked for had an alternate system in the ready and this should be the case for WJ since this is taking waaaay to long to rectify...

[Tiny Voices]

Hmm! Sorry to hear that jet a1! Thought that was an in house number for employee's and employee related passes. Sorry I couldn't of been of help. Have you gotten everything sorted out now?

[xsbank]

They have been getting rid of real people and pushing us poor sheep towards the online experience, which I had used myself in the past, and then their online thing crashes? They already don't have enough real people - they are losing the big picture.

I gave up on Wetjet when all they could offer me from Vancouver to Montreal was Vancouver, Edmonton, three hours holding eating sh*tty food in that horrible terminal, Winnipeg, Toronna, Montreal about 10 hours! Not even a 'sale' fare either, full shout. Sorry, even going to Toronna on AC is better than that.

[CLguy]

The Mole wrote: Kayak.com is all i use to find air fare.

You may want to reconsider since I just booked a flight yesterday online direct from the airlines website and got the flight cheaper in Canadian dollars than I could have from this site in US dollars.

[jet a1]

hey tiny, ya everything got sorted out last night. like the texas lady said, i called after 9pm and got a very nice/stressed lady from westjet. (after another 2hr wait). she told me that a couple people in the call centre we're getting up crying and just walking away...yikes! i told her i was glad i wasn't her and she laughed and said "you have no idea how much you don't want to be me". anyways, just remember that everyone is in the same boat here...

[Blastor]

.80@410

No buddy-pass 4 U
How was your burger? Tasted like Jet-A didn't?
WJ Campus sucks! What a waste of $$$$

[Blastor]

Brent Jang

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Last updated on Friday, Nov. 06, 2009 2:52AM EST


.A new computer reservations system is giving major headaches to WestJet Airlines Ltd., but the carrier vows to work out the bugs, saying the technology opens the door to partnerships with foreign carriers.

Since WestJet introduced the SabreSonic system on Oct. 17, its website has crashed twice, leading to complaints from consumers frustrated by long waits to get through to the carrier's call centre, either to book flights or make changes and cancellations. There have also been 40-minute delays at airports because of various computer-related glitches, including problems originating from the Sabre Travel Network.

WestJet chief executive officer Sean Durfy sent an e-mail to customers on Oct. 23, apologizing for the "slowdowns" in service - a contrite message also posted on the airline's website and still displayed this week as the first screen that consumers see.

In an interview yesterday, Mr. Durfy said the short-term pain will pass, and the Calgary-based carrier is looking forward to the benefits of having new technology that interacts with the computers of foreign airlines.

"When the system stabilizes, it will give us a bunch more flexibility," he said.

An alliance with Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co., originally slated to take effect this fall, is back on the agenda, perhaps kicking in by late 2010 or early 2011. WestJet and Southwest say they will sell more tickets on each other's planes, as well as co-operate on connecting flights, baggage handling and electronic ticketing.

WestJet has also inked partnership deals with Air France and KLM to help increase the number of connecting passengers, with inbound travellers already able to shift onto WestJet's domestic network. While Mr. Durfy declined to name new partners on the horizon, analysts say British Airways PLC and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. are next in line.

Mr. Durfy said WestJet will forge ahead this winter with flights to Mexico and the Caribbean, playing down concerns about the H1N1 influenza outbreak crimping travel demand.

He made the comments after the carrier announced that its third-quarter profit declined 46 per cent to $31.4-million while revenue fell 16 per cent to $600-million as consumers scaled back flying during the economic downturn.

National Bank Financial Inc. analyst David Newman said WestJet's October load factor - the proportion of seats filled by paying customers - rose to 77.3 per cent from 75.8 per cent, but seat sales eroded revenue.

Versant Partners Inc. analyst Cameron Doerksen said WestJet posted a respectable third-quarter operating margin of 12.8 per cent, surpassing his estimate of 11 per cent. Operating margin is earnings before interest and taxes, divided by revenue.

Mr. Doerksen said the new reservations system clears the way for WestJet to introduce its own frequent flier program.

WestJet (WJA-T11.720.262.27%)

Q3 / 2009 / 2008

Profit / $31.4-million / $57.9-million

EPS / 24¢ / 45¢

Revenue / $600-million / $718-million

Source: Company reports

KOOL-AID

[Blastor]

DAVID EBNER AND BRENT JANG

Globe and Mail Update

Vancouver, Toronto — Forty-five minutes before the takeoff of Flight 475 at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, flight attendant Braunwyn Simpson slips on latex gloves as she prepares to dig out the garbage tucked inside the plane's seat pockets.

Ms. Simpson's job is easier these days.

There are fewer napkins, empty wrappers and plastic cups to clean out because WestJet Airlines Ltd.'s planes aren't as full as they used to be.

For this trip to Winnipeg, 93 passengers board the 136-seat plane – nearly one-third empty.

“If there were more bums in the seats, the company would make more money and that would be good for our profit-sharing cheques,” Ms. Simpson says.

The empty seats on Flight 475 are just one example of a problem plaguing the Canadian economy as it struggles to recover from the most severe recession since the 1930s: overcapacity.

Widespread industrial overcapacity in Canada and abroad – what Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney calls slack – weighs like an anvil on economic growth in these critical early days of the fragile rebound.


From emptier airplanes and office towers to idled factories, anchored cargo ships and sawmills running at half capacity, the mismatch between supply and demand means the economy faces long-term headwinds as it strains to gain pace.

Slack stands in the way of what really makes an economy move – investment in new economic capacity such as planes and the latest manufacturing equipment. And this crucial spending provides a key ingredient needed to bring the economy back to life: jobs.

At WestJet's Toronto Pearson Airport operations, the company will make do with its current staff of 300. Standing outside Gate C24, WestJet's Pearson general manager, Paul Moreira, says his last hire was three months ago. Though he hopes to add 40 people next year if traffic improves, the former baggage handler knows from working through the painful recession in the early 1980s that “you can't take anything for granted.”

The Calgary airline had planned to add 40 new Boeing 737s by 2013. Instead, it has postponed a quarter of those aircraft until 2014 and 2015.