Calgary-based WestJet Airlines, Canada’s second largest carrier,
will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in the next few days.
As an aviation enthusiast based in Calgary, it’s been interesting to watch them grow over
the years, from a 737-only airline, adding more aircraft up to the size of the 787.
Before they committed to adding widebody aircraft to their fleet though,
some might not know that they had actually leased some Boeing 757s.
But why, exactly? On the surface, the 757 seems like a peculiar choice, especially for WestJet.
Well, that story starts back in 2005, when WestJet launched nonstop flights
from Vancouver to Hawaii, using their newly delivered Next Generation 737s.
A couple years later in 2009, WestJet added to these Hawaiian flights,
launching nonstop services from their home province of Alberta. Flights would start in
March of 2010 from Calgary to Honolulu and Maui, and from Edmonton to Maui as well.
Now, Canadians love their warm weather getaways, it is our reprieve from the long
winters and these travellers make up a sizable portion of Canadian international air traffic.
These Hawaiian routes were a bit different than WestJet’s other destinations though.
They are fairly long flights for 737s, clocking in at around 5-6 hours
one way for the Vancouver flights and 6-7 for Alberta’s. Plus, given the distance over water,
they also required ETOPS certification for the aircraft flying the route.
WestJet’s 737-700s and 737-800s certainly have the range to fly between Canada’s west coast and the
Hawaiian islands, and continued to do so. Calgary and Edmonton though, are much further inland.
Flying from Alberta, the 737-700s on the route reportedly wouldn’t
be able to take a full passenger load as a result.
On paper, Boeing says the maximum range of the 737-700 is
6380 kilometres, while, say, Calgary and Honolulu are just over 5000 kilometres apart.
With the lack of any nearby airports while over the ocean though, extra fuel would be
required in the event of strong headwinds or any other event that would require a diversion.
WestJet’s solution to that was to leave the middle seats empty in the first 8 to 10 rows on these
flights. That would reduce the total number of passengers on each flight by 16-20 people.
This reduction in payload would allow WestJet the extra flexibility required,
and they flew these routes until the beginning of May 2010.
For the 2011 season though, they decided to take a different approach.
In December of 2010, WestJet announced that they would be operating a leased Boeing 757
from North American Airlines for the same three flights.
This 757-200 would seat 193 passengers, and was given a temporary WestJet livery for the
3 months they would be operating. As part of the agreement, North American would be
providing the pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft maintenance engineers,
while a WestJet service ambassador would also be on board each flight.
Unlike the 737-700s, these 757s had the increased range to fly these routes without
having to take a reduced payload. While the earlier method of leaving seats empty
on the 737s had its advantages, WestJet did acknowledge that “there are select
situations where a longer-range aircraft is more ideally suited”.
The North American 757 service operated from February 12th to April 30th of 2011,
and that particular aircraft which wore WestJet titles still flies today with FedEx.
The next year, WestJet opted once again to lease a 757, but this time from Thomas Cook
Airlines of the UK. This came with more frequent flights and a longer season,
flying from December of 2011 through April of 2012. Thomas Cook would provide the aircraft
and pilots, but WestJet flight attendants would be on board this time as well.
Thomas Cook would return for the next three seasons,
operating flights from December to April with two aircraft and additional flights.
Eventually, the announcement was made in July of 2014
that WestJet had selected four Boeing 767s for further expansion. The first routes for
these aircraft would be those between Alberta and Hawaii, and, well, the rest is history.
With that, the 2014-2015 season was the last one for the 757 leases,
and these Alberta to Hawaii routes would then be served by WestJet’s own aircraft.
That’s not to say that narrowbody aircraft would never fly between Alberta and Hawaii again.
The addition of the 737 MAX in 2017, with its improved range over the 737 Next Generation,
also allowed WestJet another way to fly these routes without the same payload limitations.
In a way, the story’s come full circle in recent months, with several Alberta-Hawaii
flights having been operated by the 737-700s again, likely owing to lower passenger loads.
Nevertheless, the 757s did serve their purpose at the time. Although they were only leases,
and stuck around for just a few months at a time,
the 757 chapter is still an interesting one in WestJet’s history.
As always, thank you so much for watching! If you enjoyed the video, please do leave a like,
subscribe, consider becoming a channel member, and I’ll see you next time.