WestJet announced it would cancel flights “for the foreseeable future” after a hailstorm in Calgary last week damaged planes and disrupted the travel plans of thousands of passengers.
The country’s second-largest airline said 16 planes, or 10 percent of its fleet, were still out of service nine days after the storm dropped golf-ball-sized grains of ice on parts of southern Alberta, including the province’s largest airport.
After the damage assessment, the airline announced that it would take several weeks to obtain the special equipment and materials to carry out the repairs and inspections.
WestJet said it has cancelled over 600 flights since August 5. On average, 50 trips are currently being cancelled per day, affecting over 20,000 customers.
The Calgary-based company says it will cancel fewer flights as it resumes operations later this month, but shares passengers’ frustration over the storm’s impact.
The airline says it is facing a “very high volume” of calls and emails as it tries to assist passengers with rebooking or refunds.
Experts believe that airfares are likely to rise in the short term due to reduced flight capacity as a result of the hailstorm, which also damaged the domestic terminal at Calgary Airport and four aircraft belonging to Flair Airlines and Cargojet.
