I love trying new products, so I was so excited when I boarded the WestJet 787! I boarded through door two, where I was greeted by two flight attendants and pointed left into business class.
Continue reading: Review: WestJet Business Class 787 Calgary To London
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
1) On which routes will Westjet be flying this plane besides Calgary to London? Are Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal on the schedule?
2) Are these flights bookable with Delta SkyMiles?
@ Anthony -- See this post for all of their current route plans:
https://onemileatatime.com/westjet-787-routes/
As far as redeeming SkyMiles goes, I haven't been able to figure out a way to do so. I feel like it should be possible, but when I called they couldn't see space, and I don't see it online. If someone has a different experience, please let me know.
I'm surprised that the wine list only had one Canadian wine. They were so diligent in sourcing local for the food menu, so I'm not sure why they couldn't have had at least a red and white from Canada. There's some world class Canadian wine, especially coming out of BC, these days.
Montreal is not a WestJet hub. You are thinking of Air Canada. Hub order is Calgary > Toronto > Vancouver.
That service is very slow even if it does look to be very good.
And the jack for the headphones is in the storage cupboard meaning you have to keep it open? which seems strange or is there a gap in the lid?
Pleased you liked the WestJet flight!
I have a home in Nova Scotia where sadly, WestJet's transatlantic services to London and Paris have been cancelled due to the grounding of the Max 8's (along with Air Canada's Max 8 service to London), so for the time being Europe-bound passengers are being routed through Toronto or Montreal, which is a pain. (A two-hour flight west, before flying east.)
Maybe someday WestJet will fly 787's out of Halifax - but I'm not holding my breath. I suspect a future WestJet merger with Air Canada...
Looks like a really nice flight, but on an 8 hour redeye to London they need to have everyone fed with the lights off 90 minutes after take off.
Long drawn out meals are nice, but people really just want to sleep.
Looks like a top notch product! Tables individually laid up, espresso based drinks. NICE!
Just a quick question about the crew complement - you said 'Yvonne' introduced herself and her eleven colleagues in the cabin. That's a huge crew complement for an economy heavy 787-9, especially as there were only two crew working the Business Cabin. They have ten working in economy? Or maybe there were some trainees onboard. Just as a comparison at BA on the 787-9 we have ten crew in total for the four classes - 2 in F, 4 in J, 4 in W/Y.
The food does look very good. But look at the Vegetarian options. Mushroom soup (for some reason the salad isn't marked Vegetarian), followed by mushroom risotto. Not much variety there.
Good luck to Westjet!
Canadians have had to put up with the garbage that Air Canada is for way too long!
Much nicer finishes than AA's same seats. The ones on AA feel more sterile than a hospital
Wow, nice interior! And the dishes are making me hungry. Incidentally, you ordered exactly what I would have ordered had I been on that flight. If I ever need to fly to Canada from Europe, they will be on my radar. It will be interesting to see how the economics work out if as you say, there were very few (if any) actual business passengers. Or perhaps they can make it work with the leisure travellers. Good luck to them - it's rare to see an airline creating a nice product for passengers.
RE: Air nozzle on Boeing planes - it is an option that the airlines chooses to add at an extra cost. Has nothing to do with the age of the aircraft.
Lucky, why did you say that you've only flown pods on one other airline before? You should tally up how many business products you've actually tried!
@ benjinito -- Hah, I figured the Air Canada comparison was the most relevant, though I do wonder how many airlines I've flown with that type of seat...
@ ptahcha -- Sorry if I wasn't clear. My point was that airlines are increasingly focused on the passenger experience (especially in premium cabins). Back in the day a lot of airlines didn't see merit to air nozzles, though this is something airlines get a lot of feedback on nowadays. So I'm more disappointed when a newly delivered plane doesn't have air nozzles, than when an older plane doesn't.
@ Richard Toscano -- It all depends where you're originating. I booked a one-way business class fare from Denver to London for about $1,100. A roundtrip just from Calgary to London typically runs over $3,000.
Your preoccupation with air nozzles hurts the value of your reviews. I hate air nozzles. If they are on, i shut them off. What makes you think you are in the majority in thinking they matter? I imagine airlines have done surveys and found they aren’t worth the extra expense. My advice is travel with layers. If you’re hot, remove a layer. If cold, add one. Dry air blowing on you just leads to dry eyes. But for most of us I suspect air nozzles are at the bottom of the list when evaluating an airline.
@ Janet -- The beauty of air nozzles is that you don't have to use them if you don't want them. 😉 Air nozzles is one of the many factors I mention this 2,500+ word post, so if you think mentioning that "hurts the value of [my] reviews" then I'm sorry.
And a lot of airlines keep cabins really warm. You can only take off so much clothes.
Aaaah lil Janet uses the choice to turn off a nozzle but Lucky cannot have the choice to turn them on because.... no one wants them and she has spoken to everyone!!! She is so wise.
@Janet - “hurts the value...” please quantify that ... you come across as quite angry...
I am with Ben on air nozzles. Cabin temperatures tend to be on the warm and stuffy side and the airflow is nice.
Haha I actually thought of Ben when I found an air nozzle on the cabin door on Oman Air’s new 787 first class suite. It is rare these days to see them on newer aircraft.
“We’re so glad to have you here today”
Creepy nonsense. Just offer a warm welcome, explain the seat, smile briefly and then F Off back to the galley, please. Only North American Airlines like to engage in this insincere patter straight from chapter one of Sleazy PR Weaselwords...and it’s surprising that Canadians would fall for it.
Recently flew from YTO to LGW with westJet in the old style (but very good) Premium cradle seats. Food service was excellent but interestingly, equally slow. That was my one criticism in my feedback to the carrier post-flight. I suggested they needed one more body in the galley as each setup was prepared individually by the 2 crew members working the cabin. I was served my (excellent) meal in row 4, 45 mins after 1A got theirs. Interesting that it was the same in Biz on your flight. Cannot fault the crew/service concept/quality. Excellent.
@Paulo - I absolutely disagree. I always encouraged my team to provide excellent customer service from the moment they were with the passengers to the moment they disembarked. That meant, where possible for regular punters, remembering their names, welcoming them on board with a smile, remembering their favourite pre-departure drink, asking whether their wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/dog had recovered from the bout of flu they had last time they were with us. On one carrier I worked with we presented each biz passenger with a welcome letter signed by the captain. Yes it was 'scripted' - but it was appreciated and an individual touch.
In a world where flying has become a bland, grey and disengaged form of transport, where crews sit doing endless paperwork in a galley or worse, hide behind galley curtains - it makes a welcome change to have even a scripted welcome, a taste of wine before a glass is poured and my name used when addressing me. It's how it used to be done when things were done right...
I know, I'm showing my age... but customer service is, I believe ageless and always welcomed by those who are discerning enough to appreciate it.
@ Mark
“customer service is ... always welcomed by those who are discerning enough to appreciate it.”
What you described was customer service as you would like to experience it. Guess what? Not everyone’s the same. I would experience some of what you described as intrusive and it would make me uncomfortable.
Obviously you are paid to be there, and paid to be nice to me. Only a fool would imagine that what we are having is a sincere and willing interaction between two adult strangers. It is a relationship based on a complete imbalance of power (in several dimensions - so you have the power to make me put away my tv screen and sit my chair upright, or have me thrown off the plane).
It’s why I like the more self-confident and self-contained service culture of, say, KLM or Qantas. Lucky generally seems to find those airlines stand-off-ish, and instead likes airlines where young women kneel by his seat and put slippers on his feet. Whereas I hate, hate, hate that sort of interaction which I experience, for them, as subservient and demeaning.
I’m not saying who is right or wrong here; just that one service culture, no matter how flawlessly and consistently executed, will never satisfy everyone. Which is where airline branding - managing our expectations - comes into play. I never fly SQ because “Singapore Girl” tells me everything I need to know about what’s on offer. Precisely the same reason that some people go out of their way to fly SQ.
@Mark. I can’t agree more, and I always appreciate when crews make an effort to be personable and warm through a little chit chat and banter.
Neither is this “North American Airlines... sleazy PR” as suggested previously. In addition to NA carriers, I find almost all quality airlines in Asia and the Mid East (I have less sampling time on others) make an effort with the senior crew members giving a personable welcome to premium travelers in First and Business. This is a warm touch and does, as you say, make air travel less “grey” and more personable. Here is to civility.
@Janet I am with Lucky too on the air nozzles. Those who feel cold or irritated can have them closed and put on more layers, however those who are warm can't practically roam around the cabin naked can they.
It's very inconsiderate to generalize others thinking with yours.
@The nice Paul - "Obviously you are paid to be there, and paid to be nice to me."
Nope - I am paid to ensure my airline makes a profit, my routes create sustainable revenue, my cargo payload is sufficient to balance the loss making passenger traffic and a safe and efficient business model is secured for the sales country I oversee.
I happen to be passionate about good customer service because that is WHO I am... and I agree that is how I like to be treated.
Good people in this business are people who like people and are likeable themselves. Likeable does not have to mean intrusive. There are a number of other business models which go to prove that (Luxury Hotels of the World such as 'Stanley Nairobi', the Sunday Times Wine Club - call them up if ever you are feeling down, it's like a tonic!, even Eurotunnel Customer Service team stand out).
If airlines are going to be chosen by choice in this aggressively price-sensitive market, a kindly "Hello Mrs X. Lovely to see you again" goes a long long way...
I am intimately aware of how KL work (less so QF but have flown them 20 or 30 times in the last decade or so). Although not consistent - good customer service can be found there too.
Anyway, nuff said... off to work now... with a smile and the knowledge that my small contribution can be made with a genuine smile.
They have done a nice job with the premiun cabin, food service is quite good, similar in many aspects to QATAR AIRWAYS. Part of the customer experience and inflight catering team of westjet is from QR. Now, I want to see more canadian wines onboard.
@Janet, what a nonsense! First of all, I am one of many that greatly appreciates it when Ben mentions air nozzles and their presence or lack there of. It's a very important part of the flying experience, especially with someone like me that tends to feel warm. Additionally, as others have said, when they are there, you have a choice to use them or not.
I'm not buying the 'on demand' part here. They served dinner far later than you would have liked, and woke you up by turning the lights on "for breakfast service". So where's the 'on demand' in that? Sounds just like any other service.
Otherwise, this seemed like a very nice flight and a good concept.
@ Mark
My only point is that regardless of the sincerity or otherwise of the individual providing the service, the PERCEPTION of sincerity , at least for me, is lessened by the use of the stock/standard ‘phoney’ phrases. Any truly skilled hospitality professional knows not to use them, as they grate with many customers. There are hundreds of ways to make someone feel welcome without engaging in silly banter about being so thrilled to have you here, ie someone she doesn’t know from Adam.
Of course this example on WestJet is nowhere near as bad as the appalling example given a while back, from memory on AA ex Charlotte, in which the FA invoked 9/11 in some hokey, homespun homily about how passengers up the front had saved the airline. Genuine puke material.
This flight looks ok, although I’m not keen on the pre-departure champagne being served in the plastic cup...consequently looking like a slightly frothy urine sample.
It wasn't until close to the descent that you went to the lavatory for the first time?? Are you serious - after drinking all that you drank and eating all that food? Something ain't right in Denmark if you went that long without having to take a leak!
Meal service waaaay to long but worth the wait by the look of it.
Only problem with this service is the hideous Gatwick, London’s second worst airport after the misnamed ‘London’ Stansted (aka London East Europe). Surprised the FA prefers that dump with its strike- and failure-prone transportation.
I think it’s Virgin has English meat pies on some menus. I am waiting for WestJet do do a 36,000-ft poutine, just for fun.
This looks very promising. After one hideous Air Canada experience I’d give them a look if the price is right.
@SuperVC10 That would leave Canada with one airline. No way a regulator would approve that would they?
@Bob......"Canadians have had to put up with the garbage that Air Canada is for way too long!"........Westjet is 22 years old...... 22 years.....what do you mean by "far too long"?.....I knew someone would harp in with that silly cliche........ Air Canada is excellent.
Fabulous review - I loved the WestJet business class salt & pepper shaker as well as all the Canadiana displayed within the menus including the quintessential Canadian cocktail of the 'Bloody Caesar' that was created in WestJet's hub of Calgary
I never normally bother with Business class as I feel like hell after a long haul regardless of cabin. But based on this, bagged myself a return London Toronto. Got adjacent seats in row 1,anyone know if in the middle you can speak to the person next to you, in this case my good lady, or is there a screen?
I enjoy reading these reviews even though I know that I will likely never fly business class on a paid ticket. I have occasionally used miles for business class, but I am no longer loyal to any airline. I travel for pleasure only, no business. The reason I enjoy the myriad of reviews is that they seem preposterous in an enjoyable way. Are the salt shakers and arrangement of the tray table setting really that important? Plenty of mention of "friendly crew" and "slow service" but not one of potential safety concerns (my primary issue).
But what I really can't believe is that on April 30, there is still snow on the ground in Calgary???!!! What the heck!
Four hours to complete a dinner service (as elegant and personalized as it is) is ridiculous! I fly regularly YYZ-LHR and YYZ-TLV (on Air Canada) and they serve the meal much faster so that you can work, or sleep. Air Canada's Signature (business) class is excellent. The J class cabin on the 787-9 runs from door 1 to door 2, has a total of 3 washrooms (some shared with Premium Economy) and has never disappointed me. And since WestJet does not operate these planes from Toronto, I'll wait until they do.
Was not impressed at all... I have experienced better. The decor of the cabin looks economy, no PJ to offer? Oh well, it is truly West Jet.