The WestJet check-in area at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The airline has reduced its number of flights by about 1 per cent in April and 3 per cent in May.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Calgary-based WestJet says it will be introducing a temporary $60 surcharge for certain bookings and has consolidated numerous flights due to skyrocketing fuel prices.
The airline said in an e-mail the additional charge will be included with all bookings made with a companion voucher after this Wednesday.
It has also combined some flights on lower demand routes, reducing the number of flights by approximately 1 per cent in April and 3 per cent in May. It said most clients have been provided accommodation options due to the consolidations.
“Fuel is the largest contributor to airline operating costs, and a temporary surcharge helps us manage the recent surge in fuel prices ... We will continue to assess the surcharge and adjust as conditions allow,” a spokesperson said in an e-mail Sunday.
“While airfares can be adjusted and have greater flexibility in pricing, the nature of our companion vouchers does not allow for this same flexibility.”
Wayne Smith, a hospitality and tourism professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, said WestJet is among multiple Canadian airlines that have been scrambling to cover costs since the war on Iran began and created a fuel shortage.
“People don’t realize how much fuel a plane takes,” he said in a phone interview.
“It’s not like filling up your car. You’re talking literally thousands of litres to fly somewhere.”
Booking flights? Your next trip could cost hundreds more as Iran war sends jet fuel prices soaring
The professor said, for example, the cost of fuel for a Boeing 787-9 flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong was about $71,485 in late February.
“In mid-March, it was $110, 171 for that flight. It was up almost $40,000 just for that flight. So as the price keeps going up, the airlines really don’t have a choice.”
He said more surcharges might be coming with other airlines and with WestJet’s flight consolidations, travellers can also expect to fly in fuller planes.
“There’s an old joke in the airline industry that’s like, ’How do you make a billionaire a millionaire? Buy an airline,’” he said.
“This is a really tricky business to make money. The surcharges and consolidations are pure survival. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some baggage fees rise along with it.”