Good morning from Calgary International Airport!
My name is Alex, and welcome back to the channel.
Today, I’m flying with WestJet Link, on board their Saab 340,
over to Cranbrook, British Columbia.
I flew with WestJet Link back in April last year,
or more accurately, with Pacific Coastal on behalf of WestJet,
but that was down to Lethbridge on a non-WestJet-liveried Saab.
Now, for whatever reason, me cramming myself into turboprops makes for good content,
so back in June I thought, what’s the most scenic flight I could take out of Calgary?
Well, as it happens, Cranbrook is nestled right in the Canadian Rocky Mountains,
about a 45 minute flight southwest of Calgary, flown at just 16,000 feet.
I could only imagine how spectacular the mountains must look on this route, and…
well, here we are!
With all the appropriate precautions still in place,
and with a pretty strong desire to actually go someplace new,
I thought I’d give this a shot!
That said, it was still a very different experience flying out of Calgary
when I filmed this in August.
Concourse A is still closed for the time being, with the exception of gates 21 to 24.
All of the lounges are still closed as well, including the Maple Leaf Lounge in Concourse C.
We’ll be departing from gate 38 today,
which unfortunately didn’t have any view of our aircraft.
Regardless, our bird for today is this 22-year-old Saab 340B, registered as...
This 34-seat airliner has quite the history.
It was delivered to Mesaba Airlines in 1997, flying for Northwest and later Delta,
then flew in Thailand and Ukraine before making its way to Canada in 2018.
The boarding process for this flight though was… interesting, to say the least.
Calgary Airport had decided to put two flights leaving 5 minutes apart from the same desk
so distancing was pretty minimal.
To add to the confusion, gate 38 is not all that well marked,
and it’s down these sets of stairs which led to a door that was actually locked.
Once that was sorted, it was actually a pretty cool walk across the ramp
to our ride over the Rockies!
My seat for this short flight is 10F, in the back of Pacific Coastal’s Saab 340.
The legroom here is… well, I think it speaks for itself.
I am 6’8” for reference, so I tend to make the majority of airline seats look much
worse than they actually are.
Now normally, I’d book an exit row or a seat with extra legroom,
but with the views I was hoping for, I knew I had to get a seat behind the wing.
I was hoping I’d get a free seat next to me, and had actually planned on that,
since I booked this before WestJet changed their minds on social distancing.
That wasn’t the case today, but it’s not that big a deal
since I knew what I was getting into.
“Flight time this morning will be 45 minutes up to 16,000 feet over the rocks,
it’s a pretty full flight…”
Soon enough though, we were on our way to Cranbrook.
Here’s our departure from Calgary, with some stunning views of the city
as we take off from runway 17R.
(music)
*Saab noises*
(music)
These Saab 340s are pretty unique in WestJet’s fleet.
Not only are they the smallest aircraft flying for WestJet,
but they are the only member of WestJet’s fleet that
wasn’t built by a North American manufacturer.
Each seat has a fairly standard tray table which…
well, probably works for normal people!
In the seatback pocket, which is a fairly decent size,
you’ll find an air sickness bag,
…and WestJet’s Saab 340 safety card.
These aircraft have just one cabin crew member on board,
and normally they’d come by with drinks and a small snack.
Because the flight was so short and because of, well, covid,
there wasn’t any service at all.
These Saab 340s seat 34 passengers in 2 classes.
At the front, WestJet reserves the first two rows for Premium passengers,
for 6 seats in a 2-1 configuration.
The seats and the service are identical, but it’s more for connecting passengers on a
Premium ticket, rather than a point-to-point one like I’m doing today.
The rest of the cabin is Economy class, also in a 2-1 configuration, with the exception
of the very last row, with 4 across.
One quirk of the Saab 340 are these unusually low armrests, which are not terribly comfortable.
There is also a lavatory in the front, but otherwise, there’s not much else to say inside.
So, let’s shift focus outside to the real highlight of this flight, as we fly over Alberta’s
foothills and the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Thankfully it was a perfectly clear summer day, so these views were pretty much everything
I had hoped for!
At 16,000 feet, we were cruising at least 5 to 6,000 feet above the highest peaks,
which was perfect to take in the sights.
Please enjoy some of the best views the Western Canada has to offer.
(music)
Although, again, the eastern Rockies are some of my absolute favourite sights to fly over,
the views lasted only 15 minutes or so.
Pretty soon, we began our descent, for a straight-in arrival on Cranbrook’s runway 16.
(music)
Well, after those spectacular views, it’s safe to say that this was a really good flight
with WestJet Link!
I do like flying with smaller turboprops whenever I can, they’re such a different flying experience
than you usually get on your average 737.
From the ramp boarding, to the views on departure, and of course over the mountains,
I really did enjoy this trip.
The only possible downsides were the legroom, which again, was expected, and the lack of
distancing at the gate area in Calgary.
But, for all intents and purposes, I did get to see the Rockies from the best possible
angle, and for that alone, I think it was worth it.
*ding*
Thank you very much for watching this trip report with WestJet Link.
As always, if you liked the video, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe if you’re new,
and I’ll see you next time.