By Joey Gerardi
WestJet Expands Service in the United States
Canadian carrier WestJet has announced a list of new routes to the United States, including some new airports. All of these routes are scheduled to start this spring with the earliest new route beginning on May 17, 2023.
New routes include the following;
Calgary to Austin will operate twice weekly beginning on May 18, 2023
Calgary to Chicago O’Hare will operate four times a week starting May 18, 2023
Calgary to Detroit will operate five times a week beginning May 26, 2023
Calgary to Washington Dulles will operate three times a week beginning June 2, 2023
Edmonton to Minneapolis/St. Paul will operate five times a week beginning June 2, 2023
Edmonton to Seattle will operate five times a week beginning May 19, 2023
Vancouver to Atlanta will operate four times a week beginning May 17, 2023
Vancouver to Nashville will operate twice a week beginning May 19, 2023
Saskatoon to Minneapolis/St. Paul will operate three times a week beginning June 18, 2023
Newly announced WestJet routes (Photo: GreatCircleMapper)
Flights from Calgary to Detroit, Washington Dulles, Chicago O’Hare, Austin, and Vancouver to Atlanta will all be operated on the Boeing 737-700. Flights from Minneapolis to Edmonton and Saskatoon will be flown on the Boeing 737-800, and the flights from Vancouver to Nashville will be flown on the Boeing 737MAX8.
A WestJet 737-700 lands at LAX (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
The new flights from Edmonton to Seattle will be flown on the airline’s smaller Q400 which is operated by WestJet Encore. Flights from Calgary to Austin and Chicago have operated before, so this is a resumption of the route for them with the airline. As for the rest of the routes, they are all new for WestJet.
A WestJet Q400 (Photo: WestJet)
There is a pattern with most of the new routes; Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, and Minneapolis, these are all hubs for Delta Air Lines an airline they have a longstanding partnership with and will continue to strengthen with the introduction of the route to their hubs.
With the new routes to the Delta hubs, passengers from either airline will be able to connect to each other’s route network, whether its a WestJet hub or a Delta one. All routes and schedule data were taken from the airline’s website and are subject to change.
Joe has always been interested in planes, for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself and the first thing he did with the license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. When he has the time (and money) he likes to take spotting trips to any location worth a visit. He’s currently enrolled at Western Michigan University earning a degree in Aviation Management and Operations.