Good afternoon from Vancouver International Airport!
My name is Alex, and welcome to this trip report!
Today, I’m here on Canada’s west coast to fly with WestJet, on board their Boeing
737-600, to Calgary, Alberta!
Now, just a few years ago, or even this time last year, this wouldn’t be that noteworthy
a flight.
WestJet was the largest operator of this rare, shortened 737 variant - flying 13 aircraft
of the 69 that were built.
I say “was” cautiously, as most of those 13 are now stored in Arizona, and thanks to
the 737-600’s inherent inefficiencies, it doesn’t seem terribly likely that they’ll
return to service.
There’s been no public confirmation from WestJet on that,
but it seems like a reasonable assumption.
I took this trip back in August of 2020, and I am hoping this wasn’t my last WestJet
737-600 flight.
And actually, just as I was about to post this video, I checked WestJet’s website
and the 737-600 is gone from their 737NG page, which is...
Well, not a good sign.
I’m also hoping YVR looks a little bit less deserted these days, but y’know, given Canada’s
problematic handling of travel restrictions and the industry in general, I know that’s
not so likely either.
In any case, today’s 737-600 flight will be on board C-GPWS,
the first -600 model to be delivered to WestJet back in 2005.
I’ve flown on these planes a couple times over the years, but as you might have guessed
from the title and thumbnail, this particular -600 is pretty special.
Although WestJet has made great progress in redoing their 737 cabins as well as adding
the larger Premium seats up front, they only reconfigured a single 737-600 - this one!
When I saw the plane that was operating my flight today, I paid the $60 upgrade price
from Economy to Premium right away!
Despite the… very nature of my channel, I don’t actually fly commercially as often
as you’d think, so it was pretty lucky to get this plane out of all of WestJet’s 737s.
But, I think you get the gist of why this is a pretty cool occasion - let’s go check
out this reconfigured 737-600!
My seat over to Calgary is 3F, in the last row of WestJet’s Premium cabin.
As I’ve come to expect, the legroom in WestJet Premium is fantastic for someone with comically
long legs like myself.
3F also has a very nice view of the number two engine and the noticeable lack of a winglet
on these rare 737 models.
If you’re curious as to why that’s the case, I made a video on that very topic just
a few weeks ago.
Settling into the seat, it’s super wide and very comfortable.
The headrests are all adjustable, and a very friendly cabin crew member came by to ask
what I’d like to drink after takeoff.
One of my favourite parts of WestJet’s new 737 cabins is the very first row of Economy,
behind Premium.
There’s a ton of legroom in that row, and I think that’s because these new seats are
a bit larger than the previous “euro-business” iteration of Premium, so they’ve had to
tweak the whole cabin as a result.
I’ll take a better look at those subtle changes around the cabin and the seat itself
once we’re in the air.
For now, please enjoy the ever-impressive takeoff views out of Vancouver - departing
runway 26L.
WestJet’s route between Calgary and Vancouver is one of their busiest.
This hour-long flight across the stunning Rocky Mountains covers a distance of just
under 700 kilometres, connecting two of Western Canada’s largest cities.
Prior to (and I’m getting really tired of saying this) 2020, you’d often see up to
a dozen WestJet flights a day in each direction.
Right now, that’s down to as little as two flights a day - finally getting my first dose
of the vaccine a few weeks ago should help improve that!
WestJet’s new Premium seats have a large tablet holder built into the seatback, along
with a pocket for the safety card and air sickness bag.
The tray tables are found in the armrests, and fold out nicely across the whole seat.
In the middle is a large centre armrest, with a little platform for drinks, and a storage
pocket on the inside.
In-seat power is readily available, with a USB port and universal power outlet.
There is also the usual under-seat storage, but just based on the position of the rails,
the window seats seem to have a little more space underneath.
Shortly after departure, the cabin crew came around with drinks for everyone in Premium,
along with this surprisingly large snack box!
Being that it was only August last year, and that most airlines were cutting costs (and
arguably, still are), this was really impressive for an hour-long flight!
In the snack box was a cheese, spinach, and tomato croissant, Biscoffs, chocolate chip
cookies, apple slices, mayonnaise and mustard packets, almonds, and a sanitary wipe.
Again, it was really surprising to get so much on a shorter flight like this, and after
the dumpster fire for air travel that was Spring 2020, this was really nice!
Now, for comparison’s sake, WestJet’s other 737-600s all have an older interior
with LiveTV screens.
Those seats do admittedly have more padding, and even though the LiveTV is super nostalgic
for me from WestJet’s earlier days, it’s not quite up to the 2021 standard.
Doing away with LiveTV may seem like a bit of a downgrade, but all of WestJet’s 737-700s,
-800s, MAXs, and of course this lone -600, have WestJet Connect with in-flight entertainment
available on your mobile device instead.
The usual TV shows and movies are all free to watch, plus flight information through
the moving map, and internet access.
WestJet’s new 737-600 layout seats 112 people in a two-class configuration.
Up front as always are 3 rows of Premium in the typical 2-2 setup.
The rest of the cabin seats 100 people in the usual 3-3 Economy class layout.
Now I suspect, because WestJet had to rejig the rest of the cabin to accommodate the larger
Premium Seats, that leads to an interesting situation with the exit rows.
There’s a window seat missing on either side, giving two very lucky individuals in
the row behind some wonderful legroom.
Because the rest of the seats have moved back slightly, I also suspect the spaciousness
of the lavatories have taken a hit, although I didn’t visit them myself on this flight.
Regardless, this was one of those flights that I could really appreciate, not just as
a massive nerd who likes flying rare airplanes, but also as a massive nerd who likes following
new developments when it comes to Canadian airline cabins.
Pretty soon, the majestic peaks of the Rockies gave way to the rolling foothills of Alberta
as we began our descent into a very green Calgary.
We were also treated to some fantastic views of the city as we flew past the airport on
the approach for runway 17R.
Well, that’s another great flight with WestJet in the books!
I definitely lucked out with this exact aircraft on this exact flight - I’d been hoping to
fly it ever since it got the new cabin back in 2019.
The snack box and the service on board were both fantastic - the crew on this flight were
wonderful, and I had a great time on board!
Just for context I filmed those earlier cabin shots after all the other passengers had left,
with the permission of said friendly cabin crew, after they jokingly accused me of corporate
espionage on behalf of Air Canada.
All kidding aside, they knew this particular plane was pretty special too, and I’m really
thankful they let me take up a couple extra minutes of their time as the last passenger
to leave.
Unfortunately, the fact that this is the only reconfigured 737-600, and that it’s stayed
that way for over 2 years, makes me think WestJet’s not so keen on doing the rest
of the fleet.
So, this new cabin on C-GPWS may end up just being a footnote in WestJet’s history for
the very few people who would care -
but as one of those people I’m very glad I got to fly on it!
As always, thank you so much for watching this trip report!
These trip report videos wouldn’t be possible without your continued support,
especially from my channel members.
I’m hoping to keep doing many more of these as travel rebounds,
so if you enjoyed this one, do stick around for more!
Thanks again for watching, take care, and I’ll see you in the next one.