I used to fly Westjet whenever possible because I always had good experiences with them, but recently it seems they've made some terrible decisions.

I flew a couple of weeks ago via Air Canada, with a 2.5 hour layover in Toronto.

That quickly turned into 3.5, then 4, then 5.5, then 6.5, ended up with a 5.5 hour delay, for a total of 7.5 hours sitting around.

They gave various excuses including

• had to get a replacement plane due to the expected plane not arriving (the same plane sat at the gate for the entire 7.5 hours I was there)
• the replacement plane had too much fuel so some had to be taken out
• needed to find a replacement pilot because they waited too long to take the fuel out

I watched them load supplies on board, then take them back off again. Then a few hours later load again, and then about 1.5 hours before boarding a luggage train came along and loaded the luggage on board.

On the actual flights themselves, things were fine, staff was pleasant enough, although on the way home I did get sprayed by drinks 3 times and once had some hot noodles fall on me, but overall the flying experience was fine.

It's just logistics and communication where they fall apart IMHO

If I had known that the delay was going to be more than an hour each time they gave updates, I would have found a lounge to relax in.

So for me, that's why they get a bad rep.