Sonali Tiwary
A temporary system outage at WestJet on August 12, 2025, triggered delays at major Canadian airports. The airline reported that the outage “delayed the handover of aircraft from maintenance personnel for scheduled operation,” affecting flights operated by both WestJet and its regional unit, WestJet Encore.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that WestJet requested a ground stop, which was lifted after the airline worked to resolve the technical issue. Toronto Pearson, Ottawa International, Montréal-Trudeau, and Saskatoon were among the airports that reported disruptions.
“WestJet expedited efforts to resolve the technological issue and a return to normal operations is underway,” the airline said in a statement to Reuters. Several airports posted advisories recommending passengers check their flight status before traveling.
While this August 2025 outage appears similar to a previous incident, it differs from WestJet’s November 2022 outage. That earlier disruption was specifically caused by a cooling failure in the airline’s primary data center, which resulted in more than 200 flight cancellations and affected thousands of passengers.
The 2022 incident prompted WestJet’s Chief Operating Officer Diederik Pen to promise a full review: “We are undertaking a full review on this incident… we will find areas of opportunity to improve.” However, no similar statement has been attributed to Pen regarding the August 2025 outage.
WestJet has faced broader reliability challenges in recent years. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, WestJet achieved 71% on-time performance in 2024, ranking last among North America’s ten largest carriers, though this represented an improvement from their 2023 performance of 69%.
Under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, travelers affected by delays or cancellations within an airline’s control may be entitled to compensation of up to CAD $1,000, depending on the length of delay. The regulations specify that large airlines like WestJet must provide specific compensation amounts based on how late passengers arrive at their final destination.
Travelers with upcoming WestJet bookings should verify flight status before heading to the airport and allow extra time for potential delays, as recommended by both the airline and airport authorities.
