WestJet’s announcement of U.S. route suspensions came on the same day new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump in Washington.
Canada’s WestJet is suspending nine transborder routes for parts of the summer, citing declining demand for travel to the U.S. amid growing tensions between the neighboring countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to impose high tariffs on goods from Canada and repeated suggestions that Canada become the “51st state” have soured Canadians on traveling to the U.S.
A WestJet spokesperson tells Aviation Week there has been “a downward shift in transborder travel demand,” necessitating adjustments to the carrier’s summer transborder schedule.
WestJet is suspending flights between Vancouver and Austin, Texas, from May through October. Four more routes will be suspended for the month of June. These include Calgary–Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Edmonton–Chicago O’Hare; St. John’s–Orlando (MCO); and Winnipeg– Orlando.
Two routes will be suspended from June through August: Kelowna–Seattle and Winnipeg–Los Angeles. Another two routes will be suspended from July through August: Edmonton–Atlanta and Winnipeg–Las Vegas.
“WestJet continuously evaluates and adjusts its schedule to meet demand, and remains committed to reviewing opportunities for direct service on these routes in the future,” the spokesperson says.
The airline has “seen an increase in demand for domestic travel, specifically between Eastern and Western Canada,” and will add capacity on domestic transcontinental routes, the spokesperson adds.
WestJet’s announcement of U.S. route suspensions came on the same day new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump in Washington. Carney told Trump before media in the Oval Office that Canada is “not for sale [and] won’t be for sale, ever.”
Canada’s airlines are weighing whether the dip in demand is temporary or could be long term, depending on negotiations over tariffs and whether Trump eases annexation rhetoric.
Maciej Wilk, CEO of Canadian carrier Flair Airlines, told the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Americas in April that “the billion-dollar question is whether this is something that will continue for the next three to four years, or emotions will cool down and the summer of 2026 will be more or less back to normal.”
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