Good news - WestJet strike averted

Good news for Canadians travelling to SXM on WestJet.
Although there were some flight cancellations, the last couple days, a strike has been averted with an 11th hour deal.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6848875

Dr. Phil Sxm

Good deal. Glad they got it done. Hopefully some US airlines will follow suit.

Thanks great news for our arrivals on Sunday May 21 st.

Westjet has permanently cancelled all daily flights from Ottawa to Toronto and other points to the east. They now only have one flight in the evening which means I would have to overnight in Toronto. Instead of my flight being 5 hours, it is now over 30 hours to get to SXM. I am not a happy camper! Westjet is now concentrating on flights to western Canada! They have even cancelled their usual flights to Europe so they are going to be losing a lot of business because of their terrible decisions. I feel they will still be losing a lot of their pilots too as they won't need them any longer. The pilots are still not truly satisfied with the results of their negotiations and will be seeking employment with other airlines.

Double bad news .

It looks like there is an early an Air Canada flight, Ottawa to Toronto, Tuesdays and Thursdays, which arrives in Toronto at 6:43 AM. You would have to connect with WestJet, but it might be possible. Just a thought.

Dr. Phil SXM

West Jet is arriving today on St.Maarten.

WestJet has been keeping the same schedule, Toronto to SXM, for several years. Through the summer only on Sundays. During the winter, Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays. It has convenient times, not too early departing.
Doesn’t appear that there will be any changes to that schedule.😎

Dr. Phil SXM

We usually go eco flex with westjet. I noticed now that they only offer credit no refund anymore. Didn't govt pass that they have to refund if flight is cancelled? I don't like the credit voucher scheme.

I don’t like the credit voucher system either. I am flying between five and ten times a year to St Maarten so I can still use the vouchers but I’d rather have a refund. The only other choice in the summer is Sunwing. In the winter Air Canada has flights on Saturday and Air Transat goes on Sunday. And except for. Air Transat which is an Airbus 320, all the other flights are on a 737. All are direct flights about four hours, give or take to SXM.
So I just go with whatever the best option is at the time . I am only 25 minutes from Pearson international airport so I don’t have to worry about connecting flights. My main goal is to get there. 😎🌴.

Dr. Phil SXM

That might be possible, but it adds an extra $500 on to the price. In November I paid $611 from ottawa to SXM and now the cost is close to $2000! With all the inconveniences of air travel today, these prices are off the charts!

No question travel prices are off the charts these days.
It doesn’t matter where you are flying in the world, costs are higher than they were a year ago.
If you monitor daily prices for the dates you need to fly, you will see they go up and down like the stock market. A round ticket might be $1200 one day and two days later they’re on sale for $800. That seems to be just the way it is these days 🙄

Dr. Phil SXM