‘A Setback’: WestJet Lashes Out at Canada’s Latest COVID-19 Travel Advisory

WestJet and the Air Line Pilots Association are calling on Ottawa to provide scientific data for advising against non-essential foreign travel

A WestJet flight from Calgary arrives at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield, N.S., on July 6, 2020. The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan

One of Canada’s largest airlines says the federal government’s new Omicron variant travel advisory is “not based on science and data,” and is calling on Ottawa to make its travel-related COVID-19 data public. 

On Dec. 15, the WestJet Group issued a statement denouncing the travel advisory warning against all non-essential international travel due to the spread of the Omicron variant, saying the move “significantly undermines aviation’s proven safety record in response to COVID-19” and constitutes “a setback in Canada’s progress and its successful transition from relying on blanket advisories and policies.”