WestJet begins recovery after cancelling 464 flights over four-day stretch due to extreme cold

WestJet is beginning to pick up the pieces of a disastrous travel weekend after cancelling more than 450 flights across its network due to record-low temperatures in much of Western Canada.<br/>WestJet is beginning to pick up the pieces of a disastrous travel weekend after cancelling more than 450 flights across its network due to record-low temperatures in much of Western Canada. Between Thursday and Sunday last week, WestJet cancelled 464 flights, which it attributed to ineffective de-icing fluid in extreme cold and problems with bridges and fuel stations. During that time, temperatures hovered between -40 C and -50 C in Edmonton — reaching -55 with the wind chill. The Calgary-based airline said Monday improving weather conditions should set the table for operations to stabilize. Cancellations in Calgary were still rolling in on Monday, however, with WestJet cancelling 33 flights out of YYC by the end of the day — the majority servicing flights to areas of Alberta and B.C. where poor weather was persisting. Over the past year, WestJet has asserted its prominence in Western Canada and made Calgary its hub city — meaning several connecting flights to larger ones flow through Calgary International Airport.<br/>