Good evening from Calgary International Airport!
My name is Alex, and welcome back to the channel.
Today’s video was filmed in early June this year, as Canada’s fourth busiest airport
remains very quiet.
However, it is even quieter than usual, since I’m leaving on the latest flight possible,
on board the WestJet red-eye to Toronto.
As Canada begins to reopen, I thought it would be interesting to see what it’s like to
fly with WestJet in this current climate, and I purposely booked this trip so I could
return home within 24 hours.
However, this was all done safely, I wore a mask for the duration of the flight, and
went through multiple pairs of gloves for different stages.
I knew I was healthy going in, and was tested negative for COVID-19 when I returned home.
Since I last flew out of YYC in February, WestJet’s check-in area seems to have moved again,
further down towards the concourse C screening point.
We’ll be departing from gate 55 in Concourse C,
which is very unusual for a WestJet flight in normal times.
All domestic flights out of Calgary at the moment have been consolidated to Concourses
B and C, with Concourse A being closed entirely.
Concourses D and E, those being International and Transborder gates respectively, have also
had the majority closed off as well.
My aircraft for today is a 10-year-old Boeing 737-700, registered as C-GWSP,
which was delivered to WestJet in December 2009 and has flown with them ever since.
As we are the only departure at the moment, passengers on board were spread out all throughout
this part of the terminal, since most of the seats have been blocked off.
Even so, Calgary Airport felt… eerily quiet.
So quiet in fact, that everyone jumped as the boarding announcements played quite loudly!
(echoing) "Bonsoir. Bienvenue sur le vol WestJet 652 a destination de Toronto."
WestJet’s boarding process has changed a little bit since March.
Passengers are still called up by zone number, but in line, I was asked a few health questions
by a WestJetter who then checked my temperature with a non-touch scanner.
After that, I had to remove my mask briefly as I scanned my own boarding pass and showed
photo ID, again, all contactless.
At the door, I was greeted by a very friendly cabin crew member who handed me a disinfecting
wipe for my seat area, in addition to their enhanced cleaning procedures.
My seat for this 3.5 hour flight to Toronto is 11A in the exit row, which was promptly
wiped down thoroughly.
It may be more of a peace-of-mind thing, but I think it’s an excellent touch.
The legroom here is excellent as I expected, and although it’s over the wing, the view
isn’t bad at all.
WestJet currently blocks all of the middle seats on their 737s, but I lucked out on this
flight with nobody in the aisle either, for plenty of space!
Including the blocked middle seats, I’d estimate the flight was about 60% full.
In just the window and aisle seats, that’s about a 90% occupancy.
I’m gonna be honest though, in the terminal I felt a bit uneasy, the whole thing is just
such a stark contrast to what I’m used to.
But as soon as I talked to those wonderful gate agents and the friendly crew on board,
that went away instantly.
Here’s our departure from Calgary, for the first time in four months, taking off from runway 35L.
What you can’t see right now is the huge ear to ear grin underneath my mask!
I tell you, it felt so good to be in the air again.
The cabin lights stayed off pretty much from this point on.
As we broke through the clouds though, my jaw dropped.
On the horizon was this stunning display of noctilucent clouds, which are an atmospheric
phenomenon that are only visible in the summer months from Canadian latitudes.
Essentially, these are clouds that form at very high altitudes, but can’t be seen during daylight.
As the sun sets below the horizon, from my point of view, these clouds are high enough
that sunlight is still shining on them, creating this beautiful display even after midnight!
Now obviously that doesn’t come across as well on video, it looks a bit more like a
grainy mess, so I essentially turned myself into a human tripod
and got a few long exposure shots.
Needless to say, that didn’t help with trying to get as much sleep as possible on this red-eye
flight, but I managed to get about two hours in as the sky got lighter and lighter.
Mother Nature seemed determined to impress on this flight, as I eventually woke up fully
to this absolutely stunning sunrise!
Earlier in the flight, the crew handed out a packaged Biscoff and a bottle of water to
every passenger, which I’m filming now since I didn’t want to be *that* guy with a reading
light on!
This is the extent of the snack service on WestJet at the moment, and is only for flights
longer than 90 minutes.
In the interest of not touching things, I’ll just tell you there’s only a safety card
in the seatback pocket, as well as an air sickness bag,
and no WestJet Magazine for now.
The crew did come down the aisle a few times taking garbage, and they were all wearing
masks and gloves.
Power is also available at every seat, along with in-flight entertainment, which can be
accessed through WestJet Connect.
It still works as normal, and there’s a good selection of media that can be streamed
by connecting your mobile device to the onboard wifi.
Internet access can be purchased as well, and there’s also a moving map.
That sunrise lighting refused to quit as we began our descent into Toronto.
Please enjoy these beautiful dawn views as we arrive on runway 06L.
"And ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Toronto, where the local time here is 5:34."
"As we taxi to the gate, please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened..."
"For the safety of the guests and our crew, if you have any used tissues, napkins, or wipes at your seating area,"
"please everything with you into the airport and dispose of it inside the airport."
"When deplaning, in order to continue to protect our guests during COVID-19,"
"we ask that you please maintain a safe distance from those around you."
"Remain seated until all guests in the row in front of you have moved towards the exit."
"You may then stand and retrieve your carry-on baggage."
"On behalf of the crew and everyone at WestJet, thank you for your continued support"
"and trust during these difficult travel times. We look forward to welcoming you back again soon."
Overall, this was an excellent first time back in the air!
Red-eye flights are not exactly my ideal choice, but with those views outside,
I don’t regret it for a second.
WestJet’s 737-700 was a comfortable ride as usual.
The exit row is a solid choice for more legroom, and it was really nice to have a whole row
to myself.
While it’s a shame that there’s no buy-on-board or drink service at the moment, it’s understandable,
and at least you do get something on a long flight like this.
Although the whole process of boarding and flying in general has changed considerably,
I do take quite a bit of comfort in knowing that it is still the same old WestJet.
*ding*
Throughout all of this, WestJet has made a point of continuing to serve every single
Canadian airport in their network, either through reduced frequencies or with smaller aircraft.
The WestJetters in the terminal and the crew on board were so friendly and welcoming.
In that respect, it is very much business as usual and that gives me a lot of hope
for the future.
Thank you very much for watching this trip report with WestJet.
If you liked the video, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe if you’re new,
and I will see you next time.