{"id":618744,"date":"2026-04-21T12:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/618744\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:05:22","slug":"westjet-cuts-seat-capacity-for-june-in-response-to-high-jet-fuel-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/618744\/","title":{"rendered":"WestJet cuts seat capacity for June in response to high jet-fuel prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A WestJet airplane in Calgary in 2021.Jeff McIntosh\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

WestJet Airlines is making deeper cuts to its capacity in response to higher fuel prices, reducing the number of available seats in June by 5.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

Calgary-based WestJet previously said available seats in April and May would be reduced by 1 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, as jet fuel prices soared because of supply constraints related to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. <\/p>\n

The airline said it is not announcing any route cuts on Monday, but is \u201cevaluating its summer schedule and may adjust flying to balance fuel supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

WestJet declined to provide details or say which destinations will see reduced flight frequency. According to Cirium, an aviation data company, WestJet reduced its June schedule by 279 flights, or 25,769 seats, over the past few weeks. It was not clear if Monday\u2019s reductions are included in those cuts, and WestJet would not say. <\/p>\n

Air Canada suspends flights to New York\u2019s JFK airport, citing surging jet fuel costs<\/a><\/p>\n

The airline is shifting some capacity to domestic markets, away from Caribbean and Latin American destinations, including Cuba and Jamaica, according to Cirium. <\/p>\n

Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world\u2019s oil and natural gas are carried. The waterway along Iran\u2019s coast is also a major route for jet fuel destined for Europe. Canada refines enough jet fuel to meet 80 per cent of its needs, but airlines could face shortages landing in Europe and Asia. The higher fuel price has also made some routes money-losers, even as carriers \u2013 including WestJet \u2013 have added fuel surcharges to seat fares.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs fuel prices continue to rise, WestJet has adjusted some flying to align with demand and best manage associated fuel costs,\u201d the airline said in a statement. \u201cThis includes consolidating flights on lower demand routes and adjusting the travel period for seasonal offerings.\u201d <\/p>\n

Experts warn against cancelling trips early as dwindling jet fuel supply upends travel plans<\/a><\/p>\n

Air Canada last week said it is suspending four daily flights to New York\u2019s John F. Kennedy airport between June 1 and Oct. 25. <\/p>\n

The federal government on Monday suspended excise taxes on gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel until Sept. 7, a move intended to help Canadians manage rising costs. The suspension means a 10-cent reduction in prices for a litre of gasoline and four cents for diesel and aviation fuel. <\/p>\n

The International Energy Agency said last week that Europe could be six weeks from a jet fuel shortage caused by the loss of Mideast supplies. Dutch airline KLM cut 160 flights in response to soaring fuel prices, while Germany\u2019s Lufthansa announced a broad package of reductions that includes retiring several airplanes and reducing seat capacity throughout the company. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A WestJet airplane in Calgary in 2021.Jeff McIntosh\/The Associated Press WestJet Airlines is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,1008,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-618744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-pleasemod","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}