I tackled Westjet's winter schedule from its "secondary bases", same as I did for Summer 2024 a couple months back. Same as then, I have not summoned the strength to tackle YYC, I need a good head space and lots of time lol! And besides, it is so far ahead of the secondary airports, it's barely worth the comparison lol! But I will tackle it sometime, soon hopefully:
# of weekly flights (WS mainline, Encore, and Link. Does not include codeshares)
YVR - 437
YYZ - 339
YEG - 295
YWG - 138
YHZ - 23 (I am only including YHZ because in summer, it does function as a bit of a focus city with the European flights, so wanted to include it for comparative purposes)
# of weekly seats (WS mainline, Encore, and Link. Does not include codeshares. Estimate only)
YVR - 58,008
YYZ - 54,348
YEG - 38,563
YWG - 19,685
YHZ - 3,610
# of destinations (WS mainline, Encore, and Link. Does not include codeshares)
YYZ - 38
YVR - 31
YEG - 29
YWG - 19
YHZ - 5
For comparison, here is July 2024:
# of weekly flights (WS mainline, Encore, and Link. Does not include codeshares)
YVR - 476
YEG - 359
YYZ - 311
YWG - 166
YHZ - 64
# of weekly seats (WS mainline, Encore, and Link. Does not include codeshares. Estimate only)
YVR - 61,010
YYZ - 48,812
YEG - 45,134
YWG - 23,685
YHZ - 10,045
# of destinations (WS mainline, Encore, and Link. Does not include codeshares)
YVR - 32
YYZ - 29
YEG - 29
YWG - 14
YHZ - 5
A couple takeaways. YYZ has become a winter stronghold ever since WS chopped the domestic, transborder, and trans Atlantic flights, which disproportionally affected summer schedules. They are the only airport to increase in every metric from summer season to winter season, definitely not the norm for airlines and especially for YYZ. But that's what happens when WS still serves a zillion Caribbean/sun destinations, despite cutting YYZ's other routes and frequency.
Because of this situation, YYZ and YEG essentially flip flop in importance from summer to winter. YEG loses a lot of flight frequencies and overall seats in winter, while YYZ gains. So they go back and forth between #3/4 rank across all metrics. YYZ increases from 29 summer destinations to 38 in winter. YEG holds its destination count year round, 29 for both seasons. But frequency and overall seats decline.
YVR is pretty consistent across the year, compared to YYZ and YEG. 476 flights in summer, 472 in winter. 32 destinations in summer, 32 in winter. But there is a decline in seats overall, from 61,000 to 59,000 approx. Still a clear 2nd place in front of both YEG and YYZ. I don't have exact comparable data from last year, but I believe WS has increased many of the sun destinations (transborder and international). Both HNL and OGG back to double daily, 10x weekly for PSP, 16x weekly for CUN and 15x weekly to PVR (I can guarantee it wasn't this high last year for either destination). Same as I mentioned in the summer update post a while ago, WS and AC seem to be in a healthy equilibrium at YVR, especially as AC expanded its network rapidly including sun destinations in the US and Mexico. In YYC and YYZ especially, one airline triumphed and one retreated more or less, demonstrating the power of a global hub, a competitor's acceptance of inferiority, and ultimately a dismantling of airline presence (routes and seats). AC won at YYZ, and WS at YYC, hands down. But YVR isn't the main hub for either airline, so they seem at a healthy equilibrium where both are growing without edging out the other. It's a good situation I think, overall. While we might not get the shiny new route handouts, we get some and then strengthening of the rest. Less manic than a giant buildup and then eventual crash.
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