WestJet cancels all flights coming in and out of Pearson Airport in Mississauga

This aggressive winter storm is making its way through Southern Ontario this evening and that has prompted WestJet to cancel their flights coming in and out of Pearson Airport in Mississauga.

A statement from WestJet reads:

WestJet has proactively cancelled flights to and from Toronto, London, Ottawa, Waterloo and Quebec beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 23 until end of day, with a restart dependent on weather conditions by Saturday, Dec. 24

Due to a significant winter storm system scheduled to impact Southern Ontario and Quebec regions, WestJet has proactively cancelled all scheduled flights arriving and departing Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST on Friday, December 23 until end of day, with a restart dependent on weather conditions by Saturday, December 24. The service suspension will also impact additional airports in Southern Ontario and Quebec including, Ottawa International Airport (YOW), London International Airport (YXU), the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) and Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport (YUL).

The proactive cancellations will impact 140 flights across the five airports and were made in consultation with airport authorities and NAV Canada. All impacted guests have been notified.

A statement from Diederik Pen, WestJet’s Chief Operations Officer:

“To our guests, we know how important your travel plans are at this time of year and every single WestJetter feels the weight of not being able to get you where you want to be. We sincerely apologize for the continued disruption many have or will experience and appreciate your continued patience and understanding. Our teams on the ground, in the air and behind the scenes are working tirelessly to recover our operations, while trying to limit further disruption to important holiday travel plans.

The prolonged and extreme weather events that continue to impact multiple regions across Canada are unlike anything we’ve experienced. With the additional storms forecasted to impact British Columbia, Southern Ontario and Quebec, we are taking a proactive and measured approach to protect our operations and prioritize recovery flying this weekend. The decision to stand down more flights is extremely difficult, but it is necessary, so that we can be best prepared to safely fly as many guests, with as little disruption as possible when the weather improves.”

Information for guests with cancelled flights to and from Ontario and Quebec:

Reaccommodation options are limited, where available options will be communicated through email.

Reaccommodation options offered are what is available, there are no alternative options by contacting our contact centre; contact centre wait times are extremely high. Guests are advised to please not go to the airport to seek reaccommodation options, our airport teams are not able to support further.

Additional information for guests impacted by cancelled flights can be found here.

The resumption of operations at each airport may vary upon local conditions. Up to date flight information on cancellations for specific airports can be accessed via WestJet’s flight status page and current travel advisories are posted online here: https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/travel-info/advisories.