Dozens of flights cancelled after 16 WestJet planes damaged in Monday's hailstorm

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Dozens of flights out of Calgary were cancelled again Wednesday as airlines and the Calgary airport worked to recover from damage caused by Monday night’s severe hailstorm.

As of early morning, more than 30 outbound Calgary flights had been cancelled alongside more than 40 others scheduled to enter the city.

The latest cancellations add to the growing number of events so far this year that have upended thousands of travellers’ plans getting in and out of Calgary, including the WestJet mechanics’ strike that grounded many flights over the Canada Day long weekend and the January cold snap that left dozens of planes frozen on the tarmac.

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Sixteen WestJet planes — 10 per cent of its entire fleet — have been grounded and require “substantial repairs and inspections before returning to service,” WestJet wrote in a Wednesday statement.

The Calgary-based airline was responsible for the bulk of cancellations out of the city on Tuesday and Wednesday. As of Wednesday, 22 company aircraft were on the ground, four were moved to its hangar for protection, nine were diverted and two have been cleared with minor damage.

WestJet said cancellations “will be implemented across the airline’s network to account for decreased capacity for the foreseeable future.”

The airline said 248 of its flights had been cancelled since Monday’s storm, and that further delays and cancellations may be required.

WestJet has implemented a handful of measures in response to the large number of cancellations impacting the airline. Among those include a $0 one-time fee waiver for changes or cancellations, and cancelled flights will be refunded or credited.

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Meanwhile, Calgary International Airport was damaged by Monday’s storm after hail broke through the building’s roof, sending rainwater into the terminal as captured by several videos posted to social media.

No one was injured in the incident, YYC airport chief operating officer Chris Miles told media on Tuesday, and the airport doesn’t expect any “lasting repercussions” from the storm.

YYC airport said Wednesday that it’s able to accommodate “all flights in the commercial schedule,” adding that the B gates remain closed with no timeline for reopening, while all other gates are open with the exception of one at Gate A.

A spokeswoman for Air Canada says its Calgary operations have returned to normal and it was able to schedule its largest planes to transport stranded passengers.

Tile, drywall ‘hitting the ground’ at Calgary airport

As Quinn White made her way to a gate at the Calgary International Airport on Monday evening, she heard a disconcerting sound: running water.

White posted a video to social media showing water raining from the ceiling and what appears to be sodden pieces of ceiling tile in a puddle by a boarding gate.

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“There were pieces of ceiling tile, kind of drywall ceiling tile, that were quite literally falling and hitting the ground,” she said Tuesday from Calgary, where she was stranded and trying to get home to Campbell River, B.C. She was en route from Chicago after going to the Lollapalooza music festival.

“I was talking to a young girl who said she could feel dripping on her head, and she stood up. And as she stood up, the piece of the ceiling fell where she was sitting. So she was really lucky to get out of the way in time.”

White said there were about 100 people standing around the terminal wondering what to do and it took about half an hour before they got any instruction.

“At one point, the fire alarm started going off, so we were wondering if we were going to get evacuated,” said White.

“But even then, when you would ask staff, who were standing around essentially watching it happen with us, all they would say is, ’We don’t know.’ ”

Eventually, White says someone told travellers to head to another gate. But her B.C.-bound flight was cancelled due to the weather within 20 minutes of its scheduled departure. She was booked on another one for Tuesday night.

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In the meantime, White said she had to pay out-of-pocket for a hotel.

Meanwhile, Karen Harvie decided to detour to Toronto out of Saskatchewan after having her flight to Calgary cancelled Tuesday. She said attempts to reach WestJet were futile and she couldn’t change her flight online.

Instead of waiting it out, Harvie spent an additional $700 to fly through Toronto on Wednesday. “I couldn’t waste another day just sitting around waiting for them to figure it out,” she said.

While the cancellations and delays were frustrating, Harvie said she was most aggravated by the lack of communication over what was causing the problems.

“Had I understood what was going on, I would have been maybe a little less upset about the whole thing — but it seemed like all it said was ‘weather-related.’”

— With files from The Canadian Press

mscace@postmedia.com
X: @mattscace67

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