If you think the flying experience is worsening, you’re not alone.
Stories about flight delays and cancellations, long lines, lousy service, and pieces of planes falling off mid-flight now barely get an eye roll from travel-weary customers.
However, flying has yet to hit rock bottom.
Until now!
WestJet is introducing a new ‘service’ that hits rock bottom.
It’s called the UltraBasic.
Roasted Before It Starts
Since WestJet announced the so-called “no-frills fare option” last week, the company has been roasted relentlessly online.
What WestJet assumed would be a gift for price-conscious consumers has become a gift for comedians.
Not many people are excited about a fare with pre-assigned seats, extra charges for carry-on baggage, and a guarantee that you and your fellow UltraBasic flyers will be the last to board the plane.
“A change of clothes is a luxury now…. your seat will be pre-assigned in the back of the aircraft, at the stinkiest, least comfortable spot we can think of, just for fun,” said Ontario comedian Stewart Reynolds under his stage name Brittlestar in a straight-faced satire of WestJet’s budget fare bombshell.
The satirical news outlet Beaverton ridiculed the airline in an article titled “WestJet announces SuperUltraBasic fare where customers just stay home and give them money.”
It’s not just comedians that are making hay with this one.
One Reddit commentator said, “For $99, WestJet will print you MapQuest walking directions to your intended destination.”
Another commenter suggested that WestJet introduce “… the UltimateBasicB*tch fare option that will allow passengers to just sit on the floor with no seatbelt available (fly at your own risk)!”
And another offered, “And, for an extra $85, a WestJet representative will come to your house, remove a beloved article of clothing, and ensure you never see it again.”
Free Beer!
WestJet’s UltraBasic fare was so ill-timed and ill-conceived that lowly Air Canada seized an opportunity to pump its own badly deflated tires with an announcement of free beer—always a crowd-pleaser in Canada.
“Cheers to summer! We’re upgrading our Economy Class experience with free beer, wine, and premium snacks on flights within Canada and the U.S.,” the airline wrote on X.
Porter Airlines chimed in on X with its tongue in cheek, congratulating Air Canada “for joining our mission to help everyone actually enjoy economy!”
In the meantime, the festival of ridicule continues.
@nut_meggy took to X to pitch a new slogan for the beleaguered airline:
“WestJet: Have you considered not going?”
Maybe WestJet should have reconsidered the UltraBasic. But then again, we wouldn’t have been having all this ultra-basic fun.
