Winnipeg | James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

[Myst]

Originally Posted by jim_bred

So numbers are likely slightly up in Q1 you're suggesting?

March was up 0.7%. But overall 1st quarter was down 1.9%. It is tempting to want to see the up number as representative. But I suspect quarter overall is more representative.

Also, while growth looks good given economic backdrop, March figures are also still below March 2019.

April onward are going to be tough for US traffic, because of capacity being lost without ATL.

Domestically there is around 5% capacity added by Porter. And double daily to Halifax on WS should offset their trimming YOW and YUL capacity compared to last year. I suspect it will mean domestic growth for the summer. But it looks more like excess capacity in a weak market, not growing in strong market conditions. Temporarily good for consumers, but we’ll see what shakes out.

[Wpgstvsouth94]

Originally Posted by Myst

March was up 0.7%. But overall 1st quarter was down 1.9%. It is tempting to want to see the up number as representative. But I suspect quarter overall is more representative.

Also, while growth looks good given economic backdrop, March figures are also still below March 2019.

April onward are going to be tough for US traffic, because of capacity being lost without ATL.

Domestically there is around 5% capacity added by Porter. And double daily to Halifax on WS should offset their trimming YOW and YUL capacity compared to last year. I suspect it will mean domestic growth for the summer. But it looks more like excess capacity in a weak market, not growing in strong market conditions. Temporarily good for consumers, but we’ll see what shakes out.

The Halifax and St. John’s Newfoundland flights should be year-round service not seasonal. Same with Atlanta and LA.

[WayneShuster]

Originally Posted by Wpgstvsouth94

The Halifax and St. John’s Newfoundland flights should be year-round service not seasonal. Same with Atlanta and LA.

Halifax, yes. St. John's? I don't see enough passenger traffic to warrant year-round service, at least for now.

LA and Atlanta year-round will come back in time, but that may take awhile given the current political climate.

[Myst]

I suspect Halifax could support 2x or 3x weekly over the winter. Albeit maybe with 130ish seats, not 180.

St. John’s is nice to have and I hope it stays, but even summer is a bit surprising that we have it. Even with a larger Newfoundlander and Labradorian population in Fort Mac, Edmonton to St. John’s has no flights in the winter and Calgary goes down to only 2x weekly from October to April.

[JonToms]

Originally Posted by Myst

I suspect Halifax could support 2x or 3x weekly over the winter. Albeit maybe with 130ish seats, not 180.

St. John’s is nice to have and I hope it stays, but even summer is a bit surprising that we have it. Even with a larger Newfoundlander and Labradorian population in Fort Mac, Edmonton to St. John’s has no flights in the winter and Calgary goes down to only 2x weekly from October to April.

I would agree with you. Probably 2 to 3 times weekly would work over the winter months. YHZ-YWG and YHZ-YEG both have similar traffic volumes with double daily service over the high season and they are able to support 3x weekly service throughout the winter on the Edmonton route. As you say though it might have to be on a 130 seat Boeing 737 700 aircraft rather than a 180 seat max 8.

[WayneShuster]

New WS route for YWG this winter, YWG-BZE. I can't recall this route ever existing before. Loving the Central America adds.

[WayneShuster]

WS also adding one weekly YWG-PUJ this winter, likely in direct response to ACs PUJ add as well.

YWG-ATL increases to 3x weekly from two.

[WayneShuster]

WS press release conforming new routes:

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/fr...utes-for-winter-2026-2027-855383876.html

A few more frequency increases noted as well:
LIR increases to 2 weekly
SJD increases to 2 weekly
As previously mentioned, ATL increases to 3 weekly

[jim_bred]

Good stuff, keep em' comin'

[WayneShuster]

Apparently the full WS Winter schedule has yet to be released. We shall see if there are any more adds for YWG this winter.

[kattiff]

Originally Posted by WayneShuster

WS also adding one weekly YWG-PUJ this winter, likely in direct response to ACs PUJ add as well.

YWG-ATL increases to 3x weekly from two.

Someone needs to update the Wikipedia pages! LOL
So glad ATL is returning!

[Myst]

At least what shows right now for ATL is Mon/Wed/Fri. That’s probably best for a 3x flight. But curiously the M/F departure is 07:30, but W is 07:00. I wonder if that will change. I hope we get a more connection friendly timing. And I hope it gets stretched further into the spring than it currently shows -if they don’t want if for peak summer, I’d hope it could be.a 3-season route..

[Myst]

YWG statistics for US flights for April 2026 (source- US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T100 data filings)
Available seats – passengers carried – load factor

YWG total:
Outbound 18,549 – 14,411 – 77.7%
Inbound 18,549 – 16,158 – 87.1%
Total 37,098 – 30,569 – 82.4%

By carrier:
Delta
Outbound 6606 – 5627 – 85.2%
Inbound 6606 – 5950 – 90.1%
Total 13,212 – 11,577 – 87.6%
Market share = 37.9%

Westjet
Outbound 7551 – 4784 – 63.4%
Inbound 7551 – 6166 – 81.7%
Total 15,102 – 10,950 – 72.5%
Market share = 35.8%

United
Outbound 4392 – 4000 – 91.1%
Inbound 4392 – 4042 – 92.0%
Total 8784 – 8042 – 91.6%
Market share = 26.3%

By route:
YWG-ATL 1494 – 1017 – 68.1%
ATL-YWG 1494 – 1184 – 79.3%
Atlanta total 2988 – 2201 – 73.7%

YWG-DEN 2124 – 1898 – 89.4%
DEN-YWG 2124 – 2033 – 95.7%
Denver total 4248 – 3931 – 92.5%

YWG-FLL 363 – 147 – 40.5%
FLL-YWG 363 – 304 – 83.7%
Fort Lauderdale total 726 – 451 – 62.1%

YWG-LAS 1497 - 1217 – 81.3%
LAS-YWG 1497 - 1276 – 85.2%
Las Vegas total 2994 - 2493 – 83.3%

YWG-MCO 933 - 700 – 75.0%
MCO-YWG 933 - 793 – 85.0%
Orlando total 1866 - 1493 – 80.0%

YWG-MSP 6606 – 5627 – 85.2%
MSP-YWG 6606 – 5950 – 90.1%
Minneapolis total 13,212 – 11,577 – 87.6%

YWG-ORD 2268 – 2102 – 92.7%
ORD-YWG 2268 – 2009 – 88.6%
Chicago total 4536 – 4111 – 90.6%

YWG-PHX 2100 - 1194 – 56.9%
PHX-YWG 2100 - 1868 – 89.0%
Phoenix total 4200 - 3062 – 72.9%

YWG-PSP 1164 – 509 – 43.7%
PSP-YWG 1164 – 741 – 63.7%
Palm Springs total 2328 – 1250 – 53.7%

Compared to April 2025, overall US traffic was down 20.7%.
The last time we had a month that had increased traffic compared to 12 months earlier was May 2025. With ATL gone through December and at reduced capacity next winter, it looks likely that year-over-year growth in US passenger counts won’t resume until at least next May.

[kattiff]

I was at an insurance place the other day here in the city and I saw their winter charter schedule they were offering from their travel agency side. Thought id share, assuming it is pretty accurate for the winter 2026-2027 season.
I don’t know if they have like multiple flights in the day to the destination, it just said what days they were flying to the destination

Air Canada -
Cancun - S T W F Sa (5x a week)
Montego Bay - S M (2x a week)
Punta Cana - Th (1x a week)

Sunwing (operated by WestJet) -
Cancun - M W F Sa (4x a week)
Montego Bay - Sa (1x a week)
Punta Cana - S W (2x a week)
Puerto Plata - T (1x a week)
Mazatlan - F (1x a week)
Puerto Vallarta - F Sa (2x a week)

WestJet -
Cancun - S M T W Th F Sa (daily)
Montego Bay - S Sa (2x a week)
Puerto Vallarta - S M T W Th F Sa (daily)
Huatulco - S Th (2x a week)
Los Cabos - Th Sa (2x a week)
Libera Costa Rica - M Sa (2x a week)
Fort Lauderdale - S (1x a week)
Orlando - T F (2x a week)
Palm Springs - T F (2x a week)
Phoenix - M W F (3x a week)
Las Vegas - M Th (2x a week)