‍DALLAS — WestJet (WS) today announced significant upgrades to its domestic and international route networks.

New from Halifax, WS will introduce three new transatlantic destinations from Halifax (YHZ), including Lisbon (LIS), Madrid (MAD), and Copenhagen (CPH). These destinations grow WestJet’s total transatlantic network from Halifax to nine connections.

Also,a  new service between Detroit (DTW) and YHZ is planned for Summer 2026.

“WestJet is proud to invest in Halifax and to help open Europe to Canadians, and Canada to the world,” said Samantha Taylor, WestJet Group Executive Vice President and Chief Experience Officer.  “With shorter flight times, competitive fares and direct access to Europe’s cultural heartlands, Halifax is uniquely positioned to serve as Canada’s Atlantic gateway.”  

WestJet’s expansion to Detroit builds on its successful partnership with Delta Air Lines (DL). In DTW, Detroit, WestJet will connect guests to a Delta global hub, for the first time.

Resumption of Existing Routes

WestJet will resume summer seasonal flying on all existing transatlantic routes from Halifax including service to Barcelona (BCN), Amsterdam (AMS), Dublin (DUB), Edinburgh (EDI), London Gatwick (LGW) and Paris (CDG). The flight schedule will be announced in early 2026.

“WestJet’s continued growth at Halifax Stanfield is great news for our region,” said Joyce Carter, President & CEO of Halifax International Airport Authority. “These four new non-stop services will complement WestJet’s six existing European destinations from Halifax Stanfield, reinforcing our status as North America’s most internationally connected airport of our size and a key Canadian gateway.”

International from Pearson

Westjet also announced its first South American non-stop connection from Toronto Pearson (YYZ): Medellín, Colombia. The airline also will fly from Pearson to Cardiff (CWL) and the Azores archipelago (Ponta Delgada (PDL)). WestJet is also returning service between Toronto and Glasgow (GLA).

“Leveraging the extended range capability of our growing share of Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft, WestJet is pleased to deliver a suite of new global destinations that are uniquely suited to our leisure strategy in Eastern Canada. The MAX can connect Eastern Canada to rich cultural destinations that guests want to travel to, and we are proud to be the airline that takes them there,” said Alexis von Hoensbroech, WestJet Chief Executive Officer.

Flight Schedule

Non-stop Service to Keflavík from Western Canada

WestJet will also connect Edmonton (YEG) and Winnipeg (YWG) to Reykjavik (Keflavík) (RVK).

New Domestic Routes

Western Canadians will see two new domestic routes with three times weekly service between Winnipeg and London, Ontario (YXU), and five days a week between Vancouver (YVR) and Penticton (YYF) onboard WestJet Encore’s De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft.

WestJet and Sunwing Vacations

The airline is extending key sun destination routes to operate year-round from Toronto, Montreal (YUL), Quebec City (YQB), Calgary (YYC), and Winnipeg (YWG). Both WestJet Vacations and Sunwing Vacations will offer holiday packages available at Sunwing.ca, WestJetvacations.com, or Vacanceswestjetquebec.com.

The airline says that the remaining schedule for the 2026 summer season will be announced early next year.

Boeing 737 Fleet Updates 

Taking a step back from the network for a moment, WS has been making progress in updating its on board experience on their Boeing 737 fleet, for better or for worse.

Since May, the airline has been working to certify new cabin interiors. The first handful of aircraft, former all-economy Lynx Air and Swoop aircraft, have entered service over the past couple of weeks with more on the way. They plan to have all 43 189-seat 737-800s and MAX 8s complete by early 2026.

Thus far, at least 15 planes have been retrofitted or are in the process of getting their new cabins.

However, WS has not gotten the public reception for the change it was expecting. In fact, it has been met largely by outcry over the fact that basic economy seats no longer recline. The move has made international news and even landed the airline on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

What also doesn’t help the PR situation is the reason why the decision was made to remove the recline feature for economy class. The new configuration features one more row over the old one, bringing the seat count from 174 to 180 in total. This meant pushing seats closer together to accommodate the extra capacity, shrinking legroom to a mere 28 inches, an inch less than even Ryanair (FR) on its own 737-800 fleet. 

The decision to shrink legroom has been met with outcry from both passengers and crews alike, and is a key talking point by the union representing WestJet’s flight attendants in their recent public advertising campaign as they head to the bargaining table. The “extended comfort” cabin, 6 rows (36 seats) of extra legroom economy seats just behind the Premium cabin, still feature recline with the extra cost of the seat.