Canadian airline WestJet is dramatically cutting back on flights to the U.S.
The Calgary, Alberta-based carrier will not resume seasonal flights to North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) — one of the 16 routes it is cutting, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. WestJet confirmed the route cuts.
Most of the affected routes were seasonal ones that ended last year but were previously set to resume this summer.
The canceled routes include:
- Calgary International Airport (YYC) to RDU, ended October 2025
- Edmonton International Airport (YEG) in Alberta to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), ended in January 2026
- YEG to Nashville International Airport (BNA), ended October 2025
- YEG to Orlando International Airport (MCO), ends April 2026
- YEG to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), ended October 2025
- YEG to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), ended October 2025
- Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) in Nova Scotia to MCO, ended October 2025
- Kelowna International Airport (YLW) in British Columbia to SEA, ends April 2026
- Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), ended October 2025
- Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), ended Oct. 2025
- YVR to BNA, ended October 2025
- YVR to San Diego International Airport (SAN), ended October 2025
- YVR to SFO, ended October 2025
- YVR to Tampa International Airport (TPA), ended October 2025
- Winnipeg Richardson International Airport (YWG) in Manitoba to ATL, ends April 2026
- YWG to BNA, ended October 2025
With the cuts, WestJet will fly 13% fewer seats to U.S. destinations this year than it did in 2025, Cirium data shows.
“We saw a notable decline in transborder travel demand throughout 2025,” a WestJet spokesperson said. “As a result, we made timely decisions to modify our network to stay aligned with where Canadians want to go.”
The spokesperson added that WestJet sees “no indication that this trend will change in the foreseeable future.”
The flight reductions come as fewer Canadians travel to the U.S. During the first 11 months of 2025, the number of travelers arriving from Canada by air fell 12.5% year over year to 7.8 million, the latest data from the International Trade Administration shows.
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Heightened political tensions between the U.S. and Canada, including tariff threats by President Donald Trump, have soured some Canadians on travel to the country’s southern neighbor.
Mark Galardo, the chief commercial officer of Air Canada, told TPG in October that the airline saw a slowdown among leisure travelers to the U.S. but no change in business travel demand.
Air Canada is notably expanding to the U.S. this year, including via its first-ever transborder nonstops from Toronto’s downtown Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ). Flights to New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) from YTZ begin in March.
A slowdown in leisure travel but not business travel fits with WestJet’s cuts. The airports where seats are scheduled to fall the most in absolute terms are Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and MCO — two of the largest leisure markets in the U.S.
WestJet is also making significant cuts at ATL, where its equity partner Delta Air Lines is based. The airline’s seats to Delta’s largest hub will decrease by 24% year over year, or 54,276 seats, Cirium data shows.
Delta owns a 13% stake in WestJet, and the airlines have a commercial partnership that includes reciprocal loyalty and elite benefits.
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