Passengers across Canada are facing mounting frustration as WestJet cancels 20 flights and delays 86 more amid a powerful winter storm system that is disrupting operations at major airports including Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Edmonton. The wave of schedule changes, affecting thousands of travelers at the height of the winter travel period, underscores how vulnerable the country’s air network remains to extreme weather and operational strain.
Storm Systems Collide With a Fragile Winter Schedule
The latest disruptions come as Western and Central Canada are grappling with active winter storm systems that are driving snow, high winds and frigid temperatures across key aviation corridors. Weather advisories issued in recent days highlight winter storm impacts in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario, with Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Montreal and Ottawa all under specific travel notices for mid to late February 2026. As the storm bands slide east, a rolling pattern of delays and cancellations has emerged across the WestJet network.
At Calgary International Airport, one of WestJet’s primary hubs, operations have been strained by low visibility, icy conditions on runways and the additional maintenance required to keep aircraft airworthy in subzero temperatures. Similar conditions in Edmonton and across the Prairies are complicating aircraft repositioning and crew scheduling, creating knock-on effects that reverberate across the airline’s national network.
In Eastern Canada, airports in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are still recovering from a series of winter blows, including a late January snowstorm that brought record-breaking snowfall to Toronto Pearson and forced hundreds of flight cancellations nationwide. Even as runway-clearing operations have become more sophisticated, the combination of heavy snow, high winds and extreme cold continues to push airport infrastructure and airline operations to their limits.
Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa Bear the Brunt
The current wave of WestJet cancellations and delays is hitting the airline’s biggest hubs hardest. Calgary, where WestJet maintains its main base of operations, has seen a disproportionate share of the 20 outright cancellations and 86 delays, with early-morning departures and late-evening arrivals particularly vulnerable to weather-related ground handling challenges. Crews have been working around the clock to de-ice aircraft, clear taxiways and maintain safety standards, but the pace of the storm system is making it difficult to keep flights on schedule.
In Toronto, Pearson International is once again serving as a pressure point in the national travel network. As Canada’s busiest airport and a key connection point for WestJet’s domestic and transborder services, even a handful of disruptions in Toronto can create cascading impacts for travelers headed to smaller cities and vacation destinations. Recent intense cold and snowfall in southern Ontario have already pushed airport systems close to capacity, and this new wave of operational turbulence is prolonging the recovery.
Vancouver, which often escapes the worst of the country’s winter extremes, is also feeling the effects of the current pattern. While the West Coast typically contends more with rain and coastal winds than snow, passing Pacific storm fronts and high winds have led to intermittent delays. Combined with disruptions upstream in Calgary and Edmonton, Vancouver passengers are encountering missed connections and short-notice gate changes that reflect the interconnected nature of WestJet’s route map.
Ottawa and Edmonton, while smaller than Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver, are playing an outsized role in this disruption cycle. With winter storm advisories pointing specifically to these cities, local passengers are confronting repeated schedule revisions and overnight delays. For travelers attempting to connect through these airports to sun destinations or cross-country flights, uncertainty around departure times and rebooking options has become a familiar and unwelcome theme.
Passengers Stranded and Scrambling for Alternatives
On the concourses and in departure lounges, the human cost of the disruptions is impossible to miss. Long lines have formed at customer service counters as travelers seek new itineraries, hotel vouchers and information about when they can expect to depart. Families with young children, business travelers with tight schedules and international visitors on connecting itineraries are all competing for limited seats on remaining flights.
Scenes of stranded passengers trying to rest on terminal floors or in makeshift sleeping arrangements are echoing those seen during major storm events in previous winters. Many travelers report spending hours in queues or on hold with call centers, only to be told that the next available seat may be days away, particularly on popular routes or during peak travel days.
Social media feeds have filled with images of crowded departure halls and screenshots of delayed or canceled flights, amplifying the sense of chaos and uncertainty. While many acknowledge that safety must always come first during severe weather, frustration is mounting over what some see as insufficient staffing and communication during critical periods. For travelers juggling nonrefundable hotel bookings, event tickets and connecting flights on other carriers, the financial and emotional toll is significant.
WestJet’s Response: Advisories, Fee Waivers and Network Triage
In response to the deteriorating weather conditions and mounting delays, WestJet has activated a series of travel advisories that provide affected passengers with more flexible options. For travelers booked to or from impacted airports in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario over specified February dates, the airline is offering a one-time change fee waiver, allowing customers to modify their travel plans without paying standard penalties.
Under these advisories, passengers who change their destination or travel date may still need to pay any difference in fare, but the administrative change fee is being waived. In many cases, rebooked travel must be completed within 60 days of the original departure date, creating a compressed window for rescheduling during an already busy season. For some customers with package vacations or complex multi-city itineraries, those conditions have required complicated calculations about how best to salvage their plans.
For travelers whose flights are canceled altogether due to the storm system, WestJet is also allowing certain bookings to be refunded or converted to travel credits, depending on the fare class and whether the itinerary was purchased directly from the airline or through third-party agents. Vacation packages booked through the airline’s holiday divisions come with their own set of rules, including potential hotel penalties, which can add another layer of concern for passengers already facing unexpected disruptions.
Behind the scenes, WestJet is also engaged in what industry observers describe as network triage. By proactively canceling a smaller number of flights, the airline aims to stabilize the rest of its schedule and avoid a wider cascade of last-minute disruptions. That strategy can produce better outcomes for the majority of passengers but is cold comfort to those whose flights are selected for cancellation in the interest of protecting overall network reliability.
Passenger Rights and What Travelers Can Expect
The wave of cancellations and delays is once again drawing attention to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which define airlines’ obligations to provide communication, care and compensation when flights are disrupted. Under these rules, carriers must keep passengers informed of the reason for delays or cancellations and the expected length of the disruption, as well as provide rebooking or refund options in many cases.
When disruptions are fully outside the airline’s control, such as those caused by severe weather, compensation for inconvenience is often limited, but carriers are still expected to assist with arranging alternate travel. When the cause is within the airline’s control, or within its control but required for safety reasons, additional compensation may be owed, including fixed cash amounts depending on the length of the delay and the size of the carrier.
Consumer advocates note that determining whether a specific disruption is weather-related or rooted in staffing or operational choices can be complex. Travelers are advised to keep detailed records of communications with airlines, save boarding passes and booking confirmations, and document out-of-pocket expenses where appropriate. In cases of dispute, passengers can seek recourse through the Canadian Transportation Agency, although resolution processes may be lengthy.
For now, the practical advice to travelers is straightforward: monitor flight status frequently, use airline apps or websites to check in and manage bookings, and, where possible, build additional buffer time into travel plans, especially when connecting through storm-prone hubs. Those with nonessential travel during active winter advisories may wish to voluntarily rebook to later dates to avoid the risk of becoming stranded mid-journey.
Layered Pressures: Weather, Capacity Cuts and Route Changes
The current disruption comes at a moment when WestJet is already reshaping its network in response to evolving demand patterns and operational constraints. In recent weeks, the carrier has announced cuts to a host of transborder routes between Canada and the United States, trimming summer capacity on several key corridors linking Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton to U.S. gateways such as Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle. Those adjustments reflect a softness in cross-border travel demand following 2025, and a strategic decision to concentrate resources on routes and seasons where demand is strongest.
At the same time, WestJet has been adjusting its winter leisure portfolio, including suspending its winter program to Cuba amid a deepening aviation fuel crisis on the island. The decision to wind down services to Cuban destinations involves dispatching rescue flights from Canada with enough fuel to make round trips without refueling locally, a complex operation that consumes aircraft and crews that might otherwise be deployed elsewhere in the network.
These structural changes mean that the airline has less slack to absorb sudden weather shocks. With fewer backup aircraft and reduced flexibility in some markets, a major winter storm can have more pronounced impacts on remaining routes. The decision to cancel 20 flights and delay 86, while modest in percentage terms compared with the airline’s daily schedule, can feel acute to travelers in specific cities whose options are already more limited than in previous seasons.
Industry analysts suggest that the combination of leaner schedules, evolving demand and increasingly volatile weather may force carriers such as WestJet to reexamine how they plan winter operations. That could include building more recovery time into schedules, positioning additional standby crews and equipment at vulnerable hubs, or revisiting the mix of sun and business routes offered during the coldest months.
Wider Impact on Canada’s Winter Travel Season
For the broader Canadian travel sector, the latest wave of disruptions is another setback in what has been a turbulent winter. Hotels near major airports are once again seeing surges in last-minute bookings from stranded passengers, while tour operators and travel agents are spending long hours rebooking clients and renegotiating reservations. Ground transportation providers, from airport shuttles to intercity bus operators, are also grappling with shifting arrival times and fluctuating demand as passengers scramble for alternatives.
Tourism boards and local businesses in affected cities worry that repeated stories of travel chaos could dampen near-term demand, especially from international visitors with limited time and flexibility. At the same time, they recognize that severe winter weather is a recurring feature of Canadian travel and that airlines and airports tend to rebound quickly once conditions improve.
For now, the focus for many travelers is on simply getting where they need to go. As WestJet works through the backlog of 20 canceled flights and 86 delays, the coming days will test how quickly the airline and Canada’s major airports can restore stability. With additional winter weather advisories already in place for parts of the country, passengers and industry stakeholders alike are watching closely to see whether the network can withstand further shocks without another wave of stranded travelers and reshuffled itineraries.