LEAVE ME ALONE!
Written: Feb 18 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: seatback tv, on time performance, 100% 737 service, new and clean aircraft
Cons: abrasive flight attendants, schedules, beverage service, lack of professionalism
The Bottom Line: If you don't mind toilet paper races, bad jokes, heavy usage of the PA system, and you don't fly alot, WestJet is a good choice.
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| jetset_'s Full Review: WestJet Airlines |
WestJet is a media darling. No one hates them. I'll give credit to them that they've created competitive pressure on Air Canada to lower my fares, but now they're pretty much an oligopoly. $750 for Calgary to Toronto in March? Give me a break. WestJet isn't a "low cost carrier", everything they price is matched by Air Canada.
But in spite of the lack of lounges, frequent flyer program, advance seat selection, and one class service, they were a lot cheaper than AC on a flight between YEG and YWG. Check in was smooth and yes, professional! No jokes, no clowning around, I guess that check-in agent knew that I wasn't in the mood for yuk-yuks. Boarding went by well, although they really need to improve on the boarding process. Boarding went from back to front and was a gong show.
I get on to the aircraft and I'm pleasantly greeted by the Flight Attendants. The aircraft is CLEAN and the seats are nice. Although leather, I don't think they are any more comfortable than cloth seats, but that's just my eopinion. I sat down and was pleasantly surprised by the seatback TVs. Although it doesn't fall into the mandate of being a "low cost carrier", it's a good product to offer and is probably a godsend for parents that don't feel like parenting their kids. Seatback TVs are not activated until we're in flight, so I took a look out the window. I noticed a really well dressed baggage handler; he had a leather jacket with tie..wait a minute, that's the pilot! Yep, at WestJet, pilots help load bags into the plane. Some passengers appreciate this, I do not. The pilot's job is to safely operate his aircraft, not to help baggage handlers (who have it EXTREMELY easy, believe me) do their job. It gives me no comfort that the pilot is so worried about on time performance that he sees fit to distract (and fatigue) himself by moving luggage. And the only delay we were looking at was 10 minutes. I'd rather leave 10 mins late than leave on time and have to witness that ridiculous display of airmanship.
Safety announcements were annoying. No, not because I've heard it 50+ times last year, but because they were trying so hard to be funny. And it just wasn't. Saying that hugging the cute guy beside you if all flotation devices are used up is NOT funny. We took off and drink service was, ok. Apparently a drink cart doesn't fit into the mandate of a "low cost carrier" like WestJet, so they bring your drink out to you on trays, which was a gong show. The flight attendants messed up orders, and it took them an hour to serve probably 80-100 people. Seats were comfortable and having the ability to watch soap-operas (and the commercials, too!) was a nice ammenity. I had a few emails to type up on my notebook and I found the 'activity' in the cabin, such as singing happy birthday to the captain to be a distraction from my work.
Prior to the approach, the pilot sung a song, thanking us for singing him happy birthday. It was good to see him doing that, instead of manning the aircraft. When we landed, the F/A proved to me that WestJet is a cult: she sung a song about the CEO, Clive Beddoe. I HOPE she was doing the corporate cheer as a joke, but I really, really doubt it. She then reminded us to be careful when opening bins because "shift happens". VERY FUNNY!
Our flight got to YWG on time. If it wern't for the the pilot's baggage handling and the far and beyond insipidity of the flight attendants, I doubt our flight would have arrived at all! Even though our flight was spared the ridiculous toilet paper race, this segment of my journey with WestJet left a really bad taste in my mouth.
WestJet is a reputable airline with good aircraft and pretty good on time performance when it doesn't snow. And when it snows, you can expect a 1-2 hour delay for afternoon flights as their aircrafts are way over utilized. That being said, WestJet is not for everyone. Their flight attendants are way too perky and need training in how to read body language and that whenever speaking on a PA, majority of the content of the message should be serious with the odd humorous twist, NOT humorous with the odd serious twist. But if you like that kind of thing, go for it, you'll love it.
I don't mind humor, but WestJet's in-flight service completely deglamorizes air travel, without offering any real benefit to Canadian consumers other than engaging in "seat sales" that involve nothing more than $5 off a $150 flight segment. Being that WestJet's pay is brutally below the industry standard (and after 10 years, they still have no pension plan for their employees: just high risk stock ownership), they seem to attract a lot of amphetamine addicted 19 year olds that have no ambition with the company other than to get some extra spending cash and a few free flights to Fort Lauderdale. I appreciate friendly, but using your job as a flight attendant as an outlet for your hopeless comedy career doesn't make you a superior airline employee, it makes you annoying.
After this flight, I concluded that my business is staying with AC. Although their ground agents are LAZY, their in-flight service is far superior to WestJet. And with AC's installation of a brand new Audio Visual On Demand (AVOD) system by the year's end (arguably far superior to WestJet's live satellite-TV), I will have NO reason to fly on WestJet, unless I can get to Flin Flon for half the price, and with a better schedule.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
jetset_
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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