Comments on: An Open Letter to WestJet

By: HD

HD — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:29:13 +0000

I completely agree with you. I’ve been in a situation where it’s not someone with disability or height — a couple of teenagers and their father, actually — and they fully reclined onto (practically on the lap of) my very tall husband. It’s the rude behaviour of the individual, but I do think Westjet should do something to mitigate it. Thanks for writing your letter.

By: cdub

cdub — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:30:26 +0000

Hi Mike,

Well, about what, 2 years ago, WestJet began offering the opportunity to purchase seat selection for an extra $10 or so. Once that took effect my impression is they offered up row 2 and beyond for purchase, saving row 1 for disabled or reduced mobility passengers. Of course if you choose not to pay for your seat selection (as I never do), I am convinced those seats are not always booked up despite what it looks like online during online check-in, so ask about availability when you drop your bags off (but make sure you do it before they print off your luggage tags!). As for row 1, it has never been offered for advanced check-in. But hey it never hurts to ask at the check-in counter, even if you’ve already booked your seat. Often times there aren’t any reduced-mobility passengers on flights and those seats are ready to be filled with nice people who think of those behind them and don’t readily put their seats back, like you and me. As mentioned, row 1 is always held in case a passenger with reduced mobility requires far forward seating.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:22:19 +0000

cdub,
Just found this post while getting ready to book a WestJet flight and staring in disbelief at the seat map! So it sounds like you can get into the second or third row pretty reliably if you nail the 24 hour check-in, is that true? What exactly does it take to get into the first row? A doctors note at the airport or something along those lines? Do they ever confirm front row ahead of time with a doctors note?

By: cdub

cdub — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:44:14 +0000

I don’t quite understand the entirety of your comment, but I agree with the last part – I should disclose that I have no connection whatsoever to the airline industry; rather I am a fairly frequent traveler, spending on average 1 week per month abroad, taking, I would estimate, about 10-15 round-trip flights per year.

By: bob junior

bob junior — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:39:42 +0000

what do import and export other then people and what other companies do you work with and trade with. please give me a lot of detail

By: Gloria

Gloria — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:28:27 +0000

While I appreciate the gist of your argument, in practice I wonder how they can implement a restriction of reclining fairly. Let’s say they do restrict recling on the first row as you suggest, now the unfair advantage has been propagated to the second row as they can’t be reclined into but yet they can reclined into the next row, so if you are seated in the third row, you might feel cheated of your space again. So clearly the only way they can ensure fairness across the board is by restricting recling across all seats, doubt that they will do it without invoking great resentment. I do agree however that not enough people pay attention to basic flying curtesy, but then I have the same beef with people riding on the bus, not giving up seats for elderly and children. Sad of the lack of common curtesy…

By: cdub

cdub — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:28:33 +0000

Hoping you don’t think I work for WestJet. I have no idea how you can get in touch with them, beyond the methods you’ve already tried. But your story is truly alarming. Good luck.

By: Charles Lenney

Charles Lenney — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:40:43 +0000

Please reply to my email. C A lenney

By: Charles Lenney

Charles Lenney — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:38:46 +0000

I have been trying to get some one at the Westjet office to answere my phone call for FOUR DAYS, I would like to TALK to some one at Westjet, how do I do this with all the 1-800, numbers on 60-120, min; hold is there another number available that I can even PAY, to get into a Westjet customer SERVICE my times on the telophones are limited, so I am not able to sit on the phone open line for over an hour each time. PLEASE reply to this email A S A P, as I am running out of time. Regards , C.A. Lenney

By: cdub

cdub — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:39:02 +0000

To cap it off, let me try to paraphrase my argument:

I don’t want more space that I deserve (as the business class comment suggests). I want what I pay for, which is the same space that everyone else has – except for the person in the front row who puts their seat back.