After an excellent night at the Marriott Airport Hotel and a lot of spotting (see preceding report) it was already time to continue to Toronto.
I left the hotel at around noon, not without taking some pictures of the main terminal that looks a lot like Paris Orly Sud:
I checked in at the self-service kiosks and as I wanted to do a good report (meaning standing up as I want, taking cabin pictures) I treated myself for a plus seat at a cost of CAD 30. - It was advertised as a seat with more legroom, front seat, priority boarding and open bar in the BOB.
Here are the self-service kiosks:
The airport is very quiet, almost nobody at security:
At the security I choose the good lane: the one that was used to train newcomers. I had two passengers before me and it took 15 minutes. I have absolutely no problems with trainees, and I have plenty of time, so I just waited. Again, for training purposes, I was chosen for additional checks and explosives detection. The agents were really friendly and apologized a lot for the inconvenience and the lost time.
After that a bit of spotting, with some Embraer’s, Airbuses and Dashes.
Then a mandatory stop at Starbucks and this children playground:
Here's my ride. My first flight on the baby Boeing: I have never flown on the -600 and with WestJet. I found the 736 to look a bit fatty :) but really liked it:
Do you know why the CFM56 from the 737-300 to 900ER have this particular shape? Because if they would be fully round, they would not be enough margin between the engines and the ground.
Boarding started 25 minutes before the departure with special care first, then the over wing exit (in order to give additional time to the FA's to brief the people seating there) and then plus passengers followed by the other passengers. Here is the cabin that is pretty nice and comfortable:
There is a small IFE with a very bad definition, but it is there:
Very good seat pitch, but its premium seating:
Superb recline:
PSU:
Safety - Card:
Seat pocket content:
Network and fleet:
Luggage bins, IFE controls and the WS logo on the bulkhead:
Doors were closed on time, safety demo by hand in both French and English, push back and a bit of spotting:
The IFE is really old school:
737-800 Air Transat leaving before us:
CRJ 900 / Delta Connection and another Dash:
Air Inuit /737-200:
Take off and nice views over YUL:
I was surprised to see that the IFE offered live TV. I watched Discovery TV that broadcasted the EMB 120, flight CO 2574 crash.
As I was alone on my row, I used the TV next to it for the moving map:
Then it was time for the onboard service. It was coffee, tea, water, red/white wine or beer. Nothing else for drinks. But all BOB snacks were available. I was not that hungry so I went just for a Smarties box:
Some aerial shoots, no wingtip nor sharklets neither split winglets here: (the 736 is the only 737 variant that was not offered with winglets option)
Lavatory visit:
Galley and doors:
Doors that allow me to tell you a short story about how Boeing can be illogical.
On all aircrafts, if the aircraft floor is above 1M80 ground level (5'9'') the entry and service doors have to be equipped with slides.
Those doors need to be armed with a lever, usually painted yellow. (Sometimes red) On my last MD11 report you can easily see this lever, Swiss calls them yellow door selector). If you push the lever down, the slide bar (or girt bar) will be hooked against the floor, thus allowing it to inflate when the door is opened in armed mode. Some selector (on the 757 for instance) are big buttons or handles (BAE or ARJ for instance).
On the 737 (as well on the DC9 / MD 80 / MD 90 and B717 planes considered as modern there is no lever nor selector nor button. The crew member has to bend down, to take the girt bar from the slide container (they usually call it the dirt bar) and hook it or latch it against the aircraft floor.
While understandable on 737-Classics, 727, DC8, B707 and early MD80 planes, it is not logical that this ancestral method is still used to arm slides on modern aircrafts.
Furthermore, it is not safe: on every aircraft that is equipped with an automatic arming system (lever, button, handle), if the ground personal tries to open the door, the selector will go back to disarmed, thus preventing from any slide deployment. And opening a door from upstairs in an armed mode can cause lots of troubles for the staff outside.
To avoid this, Boeing had the idea to use a piece of red ribbon that must be placed over the window door when the slide is armed and removed afterwards. Ground staff have to check the ribbon first before opening a door from outside.
Technology? It's a shame. Here is the red ribbon, the girt bar that the crew lock on the floor to arm/disarm slide.
End of my explanation about the doors. Yes I like doors, and whenever I can I take them in picture. But what interests me the most is how they operate.
Back to my seat for the beginning of the descent toward Toronto. I took a ton of pictures and let you judge
Toronto - Pearson:
A church and a house I would see myself in!!
Stats are out:
Nano Field:
And the first plane I saw was this FedEx MD11:
767-300 / Air Canada :
On time landing!!
See more
Verdict
WestJet
6.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Buy-on-board menu3.0
Montreal - YUL
10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0
Toronto - YYZ
8.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0
Conclusion
It was a good flight, the drinks round is not satisfactory but YYZ is not well linked with the ciy, no subway nor rain, that is a pitty.
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Beautiful report with great shots. The technical explanation about the doors of the 737's was very enlightening and much appreciated.
AC needs more competition and I am glad that Westjet has step up to the plate and given AC some heat. I hope it keeps expanding and they are supposed to receive delivery of 763's early this year. I hope they become member of Oneworld in the future. They already have an strong partnership with AA.
Great report and info on the slide/door. The pictures were great and the clouds were really beautiful which made the pictures of toronto even more nice. Next time you can fly Porter and be right downtown. Pearson is a crapshoot especially T3.
Great report with beautiful aerial photos. Love the airport pics of YUL on takeoff and the beautiful pics of downtown Toronto on arrival. I wasn't aware that WestJet has a premium economy product. Seems along the lines of what the US carriers do except with the open bar as an extra. Honestly $30 for all you can drink and extra legroom is a good deal, cuz I can drink a lot on an hour flight :-P
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5 Comments
AC needs more competition and I am glad that Westjet has step up to the plate and given AC some heat. I hope it keeps expanding and they are supposed to receive delivery of 763's early this year. I hope they become member of Oneworld in the future. They already have an strong partnership with AA.
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