From Simple Flying 🔗 link to source story • thanks to CW
BY CHRIS LOH • March 1, 2022
Whether it’s due to being delivered first, a specific route deployment, or just pure luck, some jets have just worked harder than others…
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While WestJet has been modernizing its fleet in recent times with the new Boeing 737 MAX 8, the Canadian carrier has been hanging on to many of its older jets as well. Today, we examine some of the most-used aircraft still part of the WestJet fleet.
The three most-utilized aircraft at WestJet
The three most-used aircraft within the WestJet fleet are all Boeing 737-700s. This makes a lot of sense considering the fact that the airline began as a low cost carrier with a singly-type fleet. Although the carrier began with a fleet of Boeing 737-200s, these were eventually phased out as the -700s came in. The -700s would also be joined by -600s, although the latter appears to have been a victim of the pandemic- with being phased out in late-2020 and 2021.
Coming from ch-aviation, the aircraft data presented below is accurate as of December 31st, 2021. Thus, it’s about two months old at the time of this article’s publication.
C-FKWS: The title of “most-used” WestJet aircraft goes to the 20.6-year-old -FKWS. By the end of 2021 the jet had amassed 65,108 flight hours and 29,702 flight cycles. Meanwhile, its average stage length was two hours and 11 minutes, flying an average of eight hours and 43 minutes per day.
Over the course of February, the old jet has been flying all over Canada, most often making trips to Toronto and Vancouver, but also Winnipeg, Ottawa, Edmonton, and more.
C-FZWS: This 20-year-old jet is currently stored in Marana,, Arizona. ch-aviation, however, still counts the jet as part of the WestJet fleet while the website Planespotters.net does not. Nonetheless, the aircraft has accumulated 63,631 flight hours and 28,698 flight cycles. Its average stage length was two hours and 13 minutes​​​​ while its average utilization was eight hours and 41 minutes.
Prior to being stored at the start of January 2022, the jet had mostly flown in and out of Calgary, taking passengers to cities such as Vancouver, Hamilton, and even Puerto Vallarta (Mexico).
C-GTWS: Despite not having flown since May 2020, the third-most-used jet on the ch-aviation list has accumulated 62,212 flight hours across 28,070 flight cycles. Its average stage length was two hours and 13 minutes while its average daily utilization was eight hours and 44 minutes. Prior to storage in Calgary, this 20-year-old aircraft had made trips to Waterloo, Toronto, Winnipeg, St. John’s, and a number of other Canadian cities.
The aircraft has been stored at Calgary International Airport for nearly two years now- leaving us to genuinely wonder if it will ever fly again.
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The state of the WestJet fleet
As mentioned earlier, WestJet’s fleet has been modernizing in recent times. Its newest narrowbodies are also from the 737 family, but come from the MAX generation instead. These newer jets range between 2.5 and 4.5 years of age.
WestJet has 14 737 MAX 8s at the moment and, according to media outlet Skies, will take 27 more. The airline canceled part of its order, removing 15 jets from its backlog.
On the widebody side, WestJet has six Boeing 787-9s with two more on the way. This flagship type mainly flies from WestJet’s main hubs to cities in Europe.
Canadian Aviation News 
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