On February 14th we had the pleasure of attending WestJet’s 787 Show & Shine event at their Calgary home base. The media, select elite members and #avgeeks got to have a sneak peek at the plane that will start flying next week. The plane ushers in a new era at WestJet as they grow their presence not only as an international airline but also as a leisure right through to premium service airline. The plane has their first true business class with lie flat pods and they hope to differentiate from their main competitor by offering extras like turn down service.
WestJet took delivery of this first 787 (Fin 901 and named after the founder of WestJet, Clive Beddoe) a few weeks ago and after a quick overnight stop in Calgary it went out to Toronto for training and familiarization as YYZ has a hanger that can accommodate it. The 787 hanger in Calgary is not complete yet (it should be in April) hence for this show and shine we were told to wear our winter jackets as they would only have the nose of the plane peeking into their 737 hangers. The airline is slated to receive two more Dreamliners by April and seven more over the next couple of years. The first revenue flight is on February 20th from Toronto to Calgary (and return that day as well) The plane will fly daily between the two cities until April 28 when it will takeover the Calgary – London Gatwick route from the 767. The other two aircraft will start international flights on May 17th Calgary to Paris and June 1st Calgary to Dublin.
What follows is a photo tour from this is event highlighting the new era of aircraft for WestJet:
Business Class Cabin
Premium Economy Class Cabin
Economy Class Cabin
