Good morning from Calgary International Airport!
My name is Alex, and welcome to a video that I’ve been wanting to make for quite a while!
I’m here bright and early today to fly to Vancouver with WestJet, on board the first
commercial Boeing 737 MAX flight in Canada in nearly two years!
As we all know by now, the 737 MAX had been grounded worldwide since March of 2019.
After intense scrutiny by regulators around the world and over 15,000 hours of work done
here in Canada, Transport Canada reopened Canadian airspace to the aircraft
on January 20th, 2021.
WestJet announced that they’d be the first operator to return the aircraft to service
the following day, and Air Canada plans to restart their own commercial MAX flights
starting in February.
First things first, Covid is still very much a thing, but I have flown multiple times during
it already with no issues and plenty of personal precautions.
I obviously wore a mask at all times, didn’t leave the terminal in Vancouver, and was back
in Calgary that afternoon on the next WestJet flight.
All of that aside, it was a pretty quiet morning here at Calgary Airport, but our aircraft
was ready and waiting for us at gate C51.
This is WestJet’s newest 737 MAX 8, tail 315, registered as C-FHCM.
This MAX 8 was delivered weeks before the grounding, in late February 2019, making it
just under two years old, but with only a handful of hours.
Tail 315, along with two other MAX 8s,
are the only WestJet 737 MAXs in Canada at the moment.
At the time of uploading, the rest of the MAX fleet is still in storage down in Arizona.
WestJet plans to return the whole fleet to service in a phased approach.
Following this special flight to Vancouver, the MAXs will fly between Calgary and Toronto
3 times a week, before slowly adding the aircraft back to other routes.
WestJet’s also been quite transparent about the reintroduction of the MAX, and I did get
emails mentioning the type leading up to the flight.
They’re also offering a flexible change policy for these initial MAX flights, up until
the end of February for now.
Although I’ve flown the MAX once before, with Air Canada back in 2018,
this’ll actually be my first time on one of WestJet’s!
So, after 22 months, let’s go see what it’s like flying on board WestJet’s
Boeing 737 MAX 8!
My seat for this flight is 4F, an extra legroom seat
with this beautiful view of those CFM LEAP engines!
WestJet’s MAX 8 configuration is identical to their new 737-800 layout, with row 4 being
the first row of Economy Class.
With the new premium seats in the row in front, that means some ridiculously good legroom!
WestJet hands out disinfecting wipes to passengers during boarding as a peace of mind measure,
but I felt pretty good about the cleanliness of a plane that hasn’t flown people since…
before Covid existed.
Man, that’s a thought.
There’s a reasonably sized seatback pocket in front, as well as an extra one since the
middle seat is in kind of an awkward spot.
Of course, a defining characteristic of the MAX is the Boeing Sky Interior, which is really
refreshing to see again on a WestJet plane!
With some introductory words from Captain Scott Wilson and WestJet CEO Ed Sims, who
was joining us on the flight, here’s our departure from Calgary, off of runway 35L.
SCOTT WILSON: "I hope all of you now are aware that you are on a MAX, and this is the inaugural MAX flight in Canada, so ...
Just a couple points about that, we're certainly excited to be able to bring it back to service safely,
and I wouldn't be here today, nor would the crew you're going to find out through the introductions
that you've got a hand picked crew today.
None of us would be here if we didn't have 150% assurance and confidence in the aircraft,
and we're certainly happy that you've joined us today."
ED SIMS: "It's my pleasure to welcome you on board this short flight over the Rockies to beautiful Vancouver this morning.
As all of you will have been informed and you will have been notified, we are flying today on a plane that's taken us
22 months to bring back into service.
I cannot begin to tell you how much work Captain Wilson in particular, but everybody at WestJet has put in
to ensuring that this aircraft, I genuinely believe, will be one of the safest aircraft,
the most highly regulated, and highly certified aircraft that will ever fly in global skies, let alone Canadian skies.
We're very proud to have you back on board today for the very first flight of this MAX 8,
but in welcoming you on board, I also want to acknowledge that there were, and have been, unfortunately
aviation tragedies over the course of the last couple of years, so
forgive us if our tone today is less one of celebration and actually more one of relief
for the job well done of bringing this aircraft back into service. ..."
"So, thank you all so much for joining us, I know the mask protocol is a little strange,
and I know it's difficult to walk through such a quiet airport,
but frankly, if it wasn't for your loyalty and for you staying on board our aircraft,
it would actually be really difficult to operate during these difficult times, so we greatly appreciate
you joining us on board this morning, and I can guarantee for the hour and ten minutes or so that we're
going to be on board, it's going to be a wonderful and truly memorable flight.
I hope you like this new aircraft, it's one of our quietest, our most environmentally friendly,
and frankly, one of our most luxurious aircraft in our fleet, and
quite literally, my heart is pounding because I'm just so pleased to be back on board an aircraft
that I've waited 22 months to be able to see.
So, thank you again, have a wonderful flight, and I hope to see you on many more WestJet flights in the future.
Welcome aboard." (applause)
This early morning departure treated us to some outstanding views of the snow-capped
Rocky Mountains as the sun rose on our way towards Canada’s west coast.
For a historic flight like this, I can’t think of a better view to welcome the MAX
back to Canadian skies.
The tray tables in this row are found in the armrests as you would expect, and fold out.
Shortly afterwards, the cabin crew started their in-flight service.
Due to Covid, that’s obviously been reduced a bit, and Economy Class got this Biscoff
and bottle of water.
In the seatback pocket, you’ll find an air sickness bag, and the safety card.
The safety card is marked for both the 737-800 and the MAX 8,
though the picture is definitely of a MAX.
On that note though, it’s worth mentioning something that I see a lot online.
You might notice WestJet’s MAXs only say “737-8” on the rear of the fuselage.
Now that’s not new by any means, they’ve had that right from their first deliveries
back in 2017, and WestJet does still openly refer to the aircraft as a “MAX” elsewhere.
The same goes for the safety cards, these ones on the MAXs have always said “-8” only.
There’s been stories of Boeing and airlines quietly dropping the “MAX” name, but I
kind of like that WestJet’s stuck with it as a further show of transparency.
As far as in-flight entertainment goes, the WestJet MAXs aren’t any different
from the 737NGs.
You can access a good selection of free movies
and TV shows through the WestJet app, by connecting
to the onboard wifi on your personal device.
There’s also a moving map, and internet access available for purchase.
USB charging ports can also be found at every seat, along with a universal power outlet.
WestJet’s 737 MAX 8 seats 174 passengers in a two-class layout.
Up at the front are three rows of Premium, with 12 seats in a 2-2 configuration.
The rest of the aircraft is Economy, with 162 seats in the usual 3-3 layout.
Again, although the MAX 8’s cabin layout is identical to the reconfigured 737-800s,
the major difference with the MAX 8 is the Boeing Sky Interior!
The MAXs are also the only WestJet plane other than the 787 to be painted in their new livery
thus far, so I’m pretty glad today’s aircraft was this one specifically.
With that, this first flight had to come to an end, and we began our descent through the
clouds into Canada’s third largest city.
Here’s our arrival into Vancouver, landing on runway 26L.
So, that was WestJet’s first 737 MAX flight since 2019!
I had a wonderful time on board, not only were the crew super friendly, but it was a
privilege to be able to chat with some of WestJet’s executive team!
Row 4 is definitely a favourite of mine already - that extra legroom combined with the engine
view is an absolute winner in my book.
I forgot just how quiet the MAX is as well,
although I do love the sound of those engines on takeoff!
There were only 71 people on board, as you might’ve seen, but I suspect that’s more
owing to Covid rather than the aircraft type.
For all intents and purposes though, this really was a historic flight,
and I’m glad I booked it!
Nonetheless, I realize all of that is easy for me to say,
and not everyone will be as convinced.
I do still think WestJet’s transparency
on the matter will go a long way towards rebuilding
confidence, so in my opinion - give the MAX a chance.
The sheer amount of effort that’s gone into recertifying the airplane, into getting it
right, there’s no doubt in my mind that it makes it even safer.
I had no issue flying on the 737 MAX today, and I would happily fly it again in the future!
And I actually did, on the flight home, but that’s a story for another time!
*ding*
Thank you very much for watching this special, long-awaited flight with WestJet!
If you enjoyed the video, please do leave a like, subscribe,
consider becoming a channel member, and I will see you next time.