Hearing rumours about service cuts, domestically.

[invertedattitude]

Some of my old ramp co-workers said some WJA in-flight employees had heard that they are cutting some flights domestically to YHM... what is the viability of YHM these days, would WestJet want to leave YHM all together?

It's unfortunate that part of the rumour is that one of those flights is from here in Moncton, also heard that CSA's in YHM have been asked to go from P/T to casual positions... IF all of this is true writing is on the wall for YHM obviously... unfortunate, because I love flying through YHM at least when I'm connecting out west, since it's much easier than going through YYZ.

Gotta find 4.1 Million $ somewhere only half kidding....

Somewhat surprisingly, my wife has heard nothing yet... so perhaps it's all B/S...

[twinpratts]

Hard to say what might be true, but I'd take with a grain of salt what I'd heard from a rampie, who heard from a flight attendant who heard from someone...

You get the idea.

[Huge Hammer]

Use it or lose it. YHMAA had the chance and blew it when they would not come do what was needed at their airport to grow the business.

[invertedattitude]

The crappy part is, is that peoples hours will be cut by 1/2 if this turns out to be the case, they find out something tommorow.

[yycflyguy]

Gotta get her outta the house, huh?

[invertedattitude]

I'd normally find that funny, but considering the circumstances not so much. Anyway obviously nothing is concrete yet, so maybe it's nothing

[invertedattitude]

Rumour, post deleted

[Huge Hammer]

Use it or lose it. If it was making money WS would be staying.

[cyeg66]

Well, turns out someone at WJA thinks that YYC-YXU is going to do better than YQM-YHM... time will tell.

YYC-YXU has been around a while. What do you mean when comparing those 2 routes?

[invertedattitude]

Never flown on the yhm flight that wasn't at least 75% full but I realize loads don't mean profits.

Bottom line is, Mr. Durfy supported the east. Of course I don't claim to know the financial details inside any airline.

Bottom line is several Westjetters are losing their positions, and while any company needs to manage itself, it still sucks for those people affected, including I would guess those who commute from this area.

Saying the YHM-YQM wasn't used is a poor statement, using that logic Westjet should cut those 20 seat YYZ-YUL flights?

[invertedattitude]

Well, turns out someone at WJA thinks that YYC-YXU is going to do better than YQM-YHM... time will tell.

YYC-YXU has been around a while. What do you mean when comparing those 2 routes?

Thats rumours for you I guess, it may mean an extra flight on that route?

[Huge Hammer]

Okay, use it enough so that it is profitable. Is that better? Positioning this as a Durfy vs Saretsky thing is idiotic. YHM-YQM was a leftover from the YHM eastern hub days and the route just did not perform (your 75% anecdote not withstanding)

Nobody wants to see WS people lose their jobs but I think most in the company also realize that it is better to run as profitably as possible. YHM-YQM does not support the greater network. Other routes may not be as profiatble but are there for startegic reasons.

The fact is that with 3 airports in New Brunswick all pulling traffic to their city there simply is not a big enough base to support high frequency. If there was 1 regional airport for YQM, St John and Fredericton then I am sure there would be more choices.

[invertedattitude]

I agree with all of your post HH with the small exception of YFC and YSJ, YQM pulls far more traffic than both combined and is the hub of the maritime, same reason why all the good rock concerts come here now instead of anywhere else in the east.

The passenger draw within 2-3 hour drive of moncton is 3 times what is for example Halifax.

The problem is not the passenger base it's politics, marketing, history and public perception.

Regardless you are right, no airline is going to throw away profits for 20 jobs, I imagine even those people losing their positions deep down can understand that, unfortunate as it may be.

[CanadaEH]

So is the flight being cut and if so, when?

[invertedattitude]

Yes as of Nov 1st, so still 5 months away which is good, at least it's hanging around for the summer.

[invertedattitude]

WestJet Airlines will cancel its daily flight from Moncton to Hamilton at the end of October because the route is not making enough money, a company spokesman said last night.

"It's a regrettable decision but the route between Hamilton and Moncton was no longer economically viable for us to continue," WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said in a telephone interview from the company's head office in Calgary. "We've done everything we could but the numbers just aren't there for us to continue."

The cancellation will coincide with the beginning of the fall and winter schedule. Flights through the summer will continue as usual.

He said WestJet will continue to operate its daily flights between Moncton and Toronto.

News of the cancellation was delivered to WestJet employees in Moncton last night.

Palmer said WestJet has about 18 staff members in Moncton. Palmer said cancellation of the Hamilton flight will no doubt result in some staff reductions but the company did not have specific numbers last night.

He said staff members who work in the office would have the opportunity to shift to different jobs, including in-flight crews, or to transfer to other bases in the WestJet chain.

"We always take care of our people. There is no target number to get to right now, so we'll have to see over the weeks and months to come what people decide to do."

WestJet has been operating the Moncton-to-Hamilton run for about 10 years using Boeing 700 and 737-series jets that have a seating capacity of 119 and 136 respectively. Palmer would not divulge how many people actually used the service on a regular basis but agreed it was popular with people travelling to Ontario who wanted to avoid the crowds and congestion of Toronto's Pearson airport. The Hamilton airport is similar in size to Greater Moncton International Airport.

The news of WestJet's cancelling comes just as Toronto-based Porter Airlines prepares to offer flights between Moncton and the Toronto island airport. That service will begin on June 25 with two daily round trips to Toronto and Ottawa during the summer season.

Palmer said there is no real link between the start of a new service by a competitor and the cancellation of the WestJet flight.

However, he said there is a world of difference between operating jets that seat 119 to 136 passengers and operating a turboprop aircraft that seats 70. He said WestJet has no intention of moving to smaller planes and since it continues to use the bigger jets it cannot effectively serve all the smaller airports in Canada.

In the end, he said it comes down to filling seats

[twinpratts]

quote "WestJet has been operating the Moncton-to-Hamilton run for about 10 years using Boeing 700 and 737-series jets that have a seating capacity of 119 and 136 respectively"

[invertedattitude]

quote "WestJet has been operating the Moncton-to-Hamilton run for about 10 years using Boeing 700 and 737-series jets that have a seating capacity of 119 and 136 respectively"

Obviously a typo, perhaps they meant the 737-600? It is the media after all.

I did notice that this article was surpisingly on the front page of the local newspaper, now, Moncton is not a big city by any means, but in a city of 130,000 people, slow news day I guess.

That being said, people in the Maritimes do appreciate having options to travel away from here, and any time there are service changes in flight especially dramatically like that it tends to make relatively big news for a day or two, the recent transpirings with local Customs hours for Continentals service being one example.

[CanadaEH]

Unfortunate news but not entirely surprising. I've said it many times on this forum that demand in the Eastern Canadian market drops off dramtically after September. It's tough for any airline to make money in Eastern Canada during the winter, especially in markets such as YQM, YSJ, YDF, etc. which is why many of those routes are seasonal for WestJet. Knowing that we are focusing our growth into the Carribean and Mexico this coming winter, it's not surprising that we are dropping some marginal routes in favor of the more lucrative and profitable "sun" destinations.

[bcflyer]

I did notice that this article was surpisingly on the front page of the local newspaper, now, Moncton is not a big city by any means, but in a city of 130,000 people, slow news day I guess.

That being said, people in the Maritimes do appreciate having options to travel away from here, and any time there are service changes in flight especially dramatically like that it tends to make relatively big news for a day or two, the recent transpirings with local Customs hours for Continentals service being one example.

Be happy it was only the local paper. If it was Air Canada dropping a flight, it would be front page news of the National Post complete with comments from the mayor about how they are abandoning Moncton! LOL

[Troubleshot]

I am not surprised of the cuts really, with Jazz and Air Canada (via Air Georgian)....(and soon Porter) with high frequency in to these smaller airports it would be hard to compete against RJ's, Dash 8's and 1900's.

I can see more scale back on the east coast by WestJet if Porter decides to try and grow the operation out east. It's not like WestJet can't use those aircraft somewhere else to make more money. In my opinion the airlines win in this situation as market share opens with the WestJet scale back, and new airlines coming in such as Porter will have a easier road in breaking into that market, and WestJet wins by streamlining its operation and continue to be profitable.

On the other hand the public lose some 737 service to the area, but those Q400's are pretty nice all the same...

[cyeg66]

and WestJet wins by streamlining its operation and continue to be profitable.

Porter doesn't seem familiar with this philosophy. I give 'em 4 years....

[Troubleshot]

and WestJet wins by streamlining its operation and continue to be profitable.

Porter doesn't seem familiar with this philosophy. I give 'em 4 years....

Hmmmm...please explain.

[invertedattitude]

I disagree,

As much as it interests my family for you to be correct, I think Porter is here to stay.

[fundi]

"...but those Q400's are pretty nice all the same..."

-seriously? Its ok for a short hop, but after a couple hours at no higher than 25,000 feet (where the bumpy clouds are!!), I'm guessing you'd change your mind. Now, the fa's on the other hand....

"...I think Porter is here to stay."

-yeah, I don't think so. They don't have a proven business model yet. They've lots millions! He's only growing the airline so he can sell it and make some money for his own pockets. Just watch how their IPO settles out...
I wish them luck though...a couple friends over there.