{"id":425715,"date":"2022-03-31T20:50:03","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T17:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-westjet-got-back-in-the-sky\/"},"modified":"2022-03-31T20:50:03","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T17:50:03","slug":"how-westjet-got-back-in-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-westjet-got-back-in-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"#How WestJet got back in the sky"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ec1c05ade8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ec1c05ade8\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-westjet-got-back-in-the-sky\/#%E2%80%9CHow_WestJet_got_back_in_the_sky%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How WestJet got back in the sky&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_WestJet_got_back_in_the_sky%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How WestJet got back in the sky&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            How do you wake up an airline that\u2019s been asleep for two years?\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n                                                                        In the spring of 2020, with the global <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> sector at a near-standstill, a WestJet maintenance worker in Calgary was performing routine checks on the undercarriage of a Boeing 737 when he came under attack. The plane had been grounded so long that a pair of birds\u2014the worker couldn\u2019t tell what species\u2014had nested in one of its wheel wells.<\/p>\n<p>The staffer fled amid thrashing wings and menacing fly-bys\u2014an assault that would have been worse had the birds gotten around to laying eggs. To prevent future dive-bombings, crews quickly relocated the nest, then mounted plastic coverings on the plane\u2019s openings.<\/p>\n<p>Avian colonization of aircraft was one unforeseen result of the airline industry\u2019s COVID-induced hibernation. For nearly two years, companies were forced to park planes, yet keep them ready to hit the skies when the danger receded. At the height of the pandemic, two-thirds of WestJet\u2019s fleet was parked, and 9,000 of its employees were out of work. The airline was running as few as 30 flights a day, compared to more than 700 in 2019.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>MORE:\u00a0Jet fuel is bad for the environment. Contrails are even worse.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Occasionally, interruption proved a mother of improvisation. When a summer hailstorm struck Calgary, crews shielded parked planes with the type of polyethylene boards used in hockey arenas. Eventually, the company sought out long-term jet parking in Arizona, where the dry climate causes less corrosion.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as pandemic-fatigued Canadians venture beyond their borders, the implications of the industry\u2019s long dormancy are coming into view. How do you wake up an airline that\u2019s been asleep for the better part of two years?<\/p>\n<p>WestJet had given the question some thought. As travel restrictions slowly lifted during last year\u2019s vaccine rollout, the company developed a plan to bring 60 aircraft back online between May and December, about seven per month. There is more to the task, however, than rolling jets onto the tarmac and inviting passengers aboard, says Gandeephan Ganeshalingam, the company\u2019s vice-president of technical operations. Even in storage, a passenger jet requires as many as 60 worker-hours of checks and maintenance each week to ensure it remains airworthy\u2014tasks like oiling, greasing and subbing out parts due for replacement. When it goes back into service, the real work begins.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Frayling, a maintenance lead with WestJet, recalls returning one of the biggest, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to action. The aircraft\u2019s wingspan exceeds 60 metres, and its tail reaches nearly 17 metres high when the plane is on the ground. Getting it flight-ready took seven days of round-the-clock shift work, with as many as seven staffers on duty at a time. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of lubing,\u201d Frayling says.<\/p>\n<p>Every plane coming back online goes through a B-check: a close inspection of engine components, sensors and moving parts on the wings and tail with names like \u201caileron\u201d and \u201cstabilator.\u201d All told, the process can take anywhere from 300 to 2,500 worker-hours, depending on the size, model and state of the plane.<\/p>\n<p>As with other industries trying to bounce back from the pandemic, supply-chain problems have complicated things. One item in particularly short supply: thrust-reverser blankets, which are custom-cut pieces of insulating material that protect the reverser from engine heat. Many on WestJet\u2019s planes sustained damage when the aircraft went back into operation\u2014perhaps, says Frayling, from sudden exposure to engine heat after sitting so long in the cold.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:\u00a0Pandemic puppies have a major anxiety problem<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By this past March Break, however, WestJet was back to offering more than 350 flights per day. It had 8,400 employees on the job, or about 60 per cent of its pre-pandemic labour force. Air Canada, meanwhile, says it\u2019s been operating its full fleet for nearly a year due to the long lead time required to restart its business and keep its pilots and crews current.<\/p>\n<p>Toronto-based Porter Airlines used the unplanned downtime to give interior makeovers to its 29-strong fleet of De Havilland Dash 8-400s, while its pilots took classroom and simulator training. Porter returned to operations in September. A month later, it was flying to all 18 of its year-round destinations.<\/p>\n<p>As for the final task of reassuring Canadians it\u2019s safe to fly again, that\u2019s proven the easiest part of all. \u201cAs long as the government lifts travel restrictions,\u201d says Ganeshalingam, \u201cthat\u2019s all the convincing guests need.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>This article <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears in print in the May 2022 issue of<\/em> Maclean\u2019s <em>magazine with the headline, \u201cRise and fly.\u201d Subscribe to the monthly print magazine <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/secure.macleans.ca\/loc\/MME\/head_subscribe\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"under-article-widget-nl\">\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-title\">Looking for more?<\/p>\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-description\">Get the best of <em>Maclean&#8217;s<\/em> sent straight to your inbox. 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Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/society\/how-westjet-got-back-in-the-sky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How WestJet got back in the sky&#8221; How do you wake up an airline that\u2019s been asleep for two years? In the spring of 2020, with the global travel sector at a near-standstill, a WestJet maintenance worker in Calgary was performing routine checks on the undercarriage of a Boeing 737 when he came under attack&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":425716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/AIRLINES-HUTCHINS-MAR29-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[71812,67806,67879,127507],"class_list":["post-425715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-airplanes","tag-editors-picks","tag-society","tag-westjet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}