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WestJet is introducing an additional $60 fee on companion voucher bookings as fuel prices soar.
The airline’s companion voucher program is a WestJet RBC Mastercard perk allowing cardholders to bring a second passenger on a round trip for a reduced fare.
WestJet says the surcharge is temporary, and takes effect Wednesday, April 8. Bookings made before Wednesday will not be affected.
The surcharge will remain in place until “jet fuel prices return to normal levels,” WestJet said in an email sent to customers Friday morning.
It’s meant to offset rising fuel prices as a result of the ongoing Middle East conflict, a WestJet spokesperson said in a statement sent to CBC News.
“Fuel is the largest contributor to airline operating costs, and a temporary surcharge helps us manage the recent surge in fuel prices,” the statement read.
“While airfares can be adjusted and have greater flexibility in pricing, the nature of our companion vouchers does not allow for this same flexibility.”
WestJet consolidating flights
The airline is also adjusting its flying schedule to address higher fuel costs.
“This includes consolidating flights on lower demand routes and adjusting the travel period for seasonal offerings,” the airline said.
“We have reduced capacity by approximately one per cent in April and three per cent in May. Most guests impacted by these changes have been provided re-accommodation options within the same day as their original departure.”
The war in the Middle East is driving up the cost of air travel as jet fuel prices skyrocket by over 50 per cent, prompting several airlines to adjust their pricing.
Wayne Smith, a hospitality and tourism professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, said WestJet is among multiple Canadian airlines that have been scrambling to cover costs since the fuel shortage.
“People don’t realize how much fuel a plane takes,” he said in a phone interview with The Canadian Press.
“It’s not like filling up your car. You’re talking literally thousands of litres to fly somewhere.”
The professor said, for example, the cost of fuel for a Boeing 787-9 flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong was about $71,485 in late February.
“In mid-March, it was $110, 171 for that flight. It was up almost $40,000 just for that flight. So as the price keeps going up, the airlines really don’t have a choice.”
He said more surcharges might be coming with other airlines and with WestJet’s flight consolidations, travellers can also expect to fly in fuller planes.
“There’s an old joke in the airline industry that’s like, ‘How do you make a billionaire a millionaire? Buy an airline,”‘ he said.
“This is a really tricky business to make money. The surcharges and consolidations are pure survival. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some baggage fees rise along with it.”
