WestJet has confirmed it offered a bus ticket as an alternative when they had to cancel a flight this past weekend.

A passenger posted a message he received from WestJet informing him of the cancellation and giving him the option of a bus ride from Calgary to Regina instead.

WestJet says it’s flight, WS298 on Sunday from Calgary to Regina was cancelled due to unscheduled aircraft maintenance. The company also indicates that options for getting passengers to their destination were limited due to “high demand for travel over the weekend and significant weather events across Vancouver and Vancouver Island which caused compounding operational impacts and limited aircraft availability.”

So, the air carrier decided that to get impacted guests to their destination as quickly as possible they would provide ground transportation for anyone who didn’t want to wait for an alternative flight.

The CEO of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce expressed shock that the viable alternative for unscheduled maintenance is a bus ticket. Jason Aebig said, in a tweet after seeing the post from an affected passenger, that the airlines have been allowed to make decisions that harm competition, reduce services and drive up fees and fares for Saskatoon business and leisure travellers.

Statement from Westjet:

“We sincerely apologize to those guests who were impacted by the cancellation of WestJet flight WS298 yesterday from Calgary to Regina due to unscheduled aircraft maintenance. Unfortunately, reaccommodation options were limited due to the high demand for travel over the weekend and significant weather events across Vancouver and Vancouver Island which caused compounding operational impacts and limited aircraft availability. In order to best support impacted guests in reaching their destination as quickly as possible, ground transportation was arranged to provide an immediate travel option for those who were unable to wait for an alternative flight option.

We appreciate the patience and understanding of our guests and apologize again for the disruption to their travel plans.”