VANCOUVER – Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour brought thousands of fans to Vancouver for its three-night finale. However, Swifties from Prince George (YXS) faced unexpected hurdles after WestJet (WS) canceled flights, leaving them stranded for alternate flights.
On Thursday evening, Aliviah Howell, a Taylor Swift fan from Prince George, was set to fly to Vancouver with WestJet. The flight, initially delayed, was ultimately canceled due to safety concerns with the aircraft.
“Almost everyone on the flight was a Swiftie coming down for the Eras Tour. We were all sitting in the lobby kind of wondering what to do. Initially, I was just frustrated. I know the airlines don’t intend to do this. We were just super frustrated.”
Aliviah Howell told Global News.
With no replacement flight available, Howell joined four fellow stranded fans to rent an SUV and drove nearly 800 kilometers overnight to reach Vancouver, as reported by Global News. She described their impromptu road trip as both a challenge and a bonding experience, sharing updates with others who managed to attend earlier shows.
Photo: By BriYYZ from Toronto, Canada – WestJet Boeing 737-800 C-GAWS, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41141832WestJet Canceled Vancouver Flight
The disruption didn’t end there. On Saturday morning, Prince George’s residents Caden Fanshaw and Jael Reimer reportedly faced another last-minute cancellation for their 6 a.m. WestJet flight.
“We’ve been seeing all over the news people coming from all over the world, and they can make it from, like, Australia, and we can’t even make it from northern B.C.”
Reimer lamented in an interview with Global News.
Although WestJet cited unscheduled maintenance as the reason for the cancellation, the timing left fans frustrated. The pair managed to rebook with another airline, arriving in Vancouver a day before the concert, but a family member traveling with them paid $800 out of pocket for the new booking.
“I’ll just say, it’s really disappointing that they can’t get more organized, especially on probably one of the biggest weekends of the entire year for B.C., and even Canada,” said Reimer.
Photo: By BriYYZ from Toronto, Canada – Westjet Boeing 737-700 (W), CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25906507WestJet’s Response
WestJet issued an apology, with spokesperson Madison Kruger acknowledging the disruptions caused by the cancellations. Despite the apology, fans like Fanshaw felt let down, especially given WestJet’s promotional tie-ins with the Eras Tour.
“For an airline that’s marketing itself as, like, the ‘Eras Tour’ airline, they sure blew it this weekend,” said Fanshaw.
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