My wife and I travelled from New York to Calgary with WestJet, and our first experience with them was extremely disappointing. At JFK, we were assisted by a WestJet agent, whose behavior was rude and unprofessional from the start. She wrongly claimed we had exceeded the personal item limit, despite my wife carrying a small wheeled backpack. When we politely tried to clarify, she mocked us, raised her voice, and publicly threatened to charge us for another bag. She also refused to acknowledge our prepaid checked baggage, even after we showed proof, and forced us to pay an additional $55.
The situation worsened onboard. While the plane taxied at JFK, I noticed a live spider crawling from the overhead bin and hanging near my neck. I trapped it in a napkin and informed the flight attendant once airborne. She discarded the spider but could not confirm whether the aircraft had safety protocols to be inspected or sanitized as a standard operating procedure.
This experience raises serious concerns regarding WestJet staff's professionalism and their sanitation protocols. We reached out to WestJet to investigate both incidents, review their staff training processes, and share how they ensure cleanliness and passenger safety onboard but never heard back from them. What we experienced was unacceptable for any airline. read more