New WestJet route to Vancouver will fly out of Detroit, not Windsor

WestJet plans to offer a new daily direct service to Vancouver, but Windsor travellers will have to cross the border to take advantage.

The airline announced four new routes that will be included in their summer schedule for next year, with one of the new routes connecting Vancouver and Detroit once daily. None of the flights are out of Windsor.

The new route will begin service on April 28.

As part of a statement to CBC News, the airline said it chose to operate the new route through Detroit because it's a major hub for Delta Air Lines, who WestJet has a "longstanding partnership" with and that it "will provide Western Canadians travelling from or through Vancouver with the opportunity to seamlessly connect to more than 70 transborder destinations".

Mark Galvin, president and CEO of Windsor International Airport, isn't surprised WestJet chose Detroit, suggesting there's no comparison between the two airports due to the difference in size.

"It's not really a choice to be made here," said Galvin. "They do multiple things from multiple airports. They fly from Detroit and they fly from Windsor."

While there is no Vancouver-Windsor route currently offered by any of the five airlines operating out of Windsor's airport, Galvin said that could change if there is a growing demand.

"We're always looking at multiple routes and what we can sustain here on a long-term basis," he said. "When the people fill the seats, it's easier for the next route and the next route and the next route."

Currently, Windsor does not have any year-round routes through WestJet, with only a seasonal route to and from Calgary operating. That route has ended for the season and Galvin said it would resume in early June.

In the meantime, Galvin said Sunwing flights will be running from the counter they share with WestJet starting next week to Cancun, Mexico and three destinations in Cuba.

Do people fly out of Windsor? Or Detroit?

Galvin says whether people fly out of either Windsor or Detroit depends on where they're going.

"A lot of it's destination-focused," he said. "There's certain routes that we probably won't have, but then there's routes that we can do."

A local travel agent isn't surprised that many people choose not to fly out of Windsor, saying it's quite common for Windsorites to choose to fly out of Michigan.

"I would say 50 per cent of our business is flying out of Detroit or even Lansing," said Melanie Harding of Valente Travel.

The cost is another contributing factor, says Harding.

Google Flights shows that for a round-trip journey to Vancouver beginning in Windsor between May 1-8, 2024, the cheapest tickets are $859, travelling with Air Canada. A trip between Detroit and Vancouver on the same dates with the same airline costs as low as $454. Both routes have layovers in Toronto.

When WestJet begins their service next year, their non-stop Vancouver-Detroit route will cost only $361 round-trip.

But Harding says regardless of where the flights take off from, more planes in the air is a good thing.

As does Galvin, but he acknowledges that it will take time for Windsor airport to get back to pre-pandemic flight frequencies.

"Regional airports were the hardest hit," he says. "We would normally enjoy 10 flights a day right now. We have four [and we're] hoping to ramp that up on a non-seasonal [basis]."