So the Canadian government has created a program to help airlines, and it seems relatively fair. However, perhaps what stands out to me most here is WestJet’s stance — the airline is telling the government to stop helping airlines, and not screw over Canadian taxpayers. Say what now?!

WestJet blasts Canadian government airline loans

On Monday, June 8, 2026, the Canadian government introduced what’s described as “targeted support to help Canada’s airline sector weather global fuel market volatility.” This primarily consists of two things:

• The Canadian government had already announced that between April 20 and September 7, 2026, the federal excise tax on jet fuel has been removed, reducing the cost by four cents per liter
• On top of that, we’ve seen the launch of the “Liquidity for Airline Sector Resilience” facility, a loan program whereby eligible Canadian airlines experiencing financial pressures due to high jet fuel costs can get up to $150 million in repayable liquidity support, on an as-needed basis

I think the most interesting thing about this is how airlines are responding to this support from the government. In particular, WestJet is tearing into the government here, and I think the whole statement is worth sharing:

WestJet strongly opposes the government’s proposal to issue loans to airlines amid the rising fuel costs. The government faces a choice: continue with costly and market distorting subsidies or build a sustainable future for Canadian aviation.  

We’ve seen where this path leads. In 2025 alone, taxpayers lost around $400 million in COVID-related airline loans that were forgiven by the federal government. With this, they have been turned into direct taxpayer subsidies to some airlines. 

This time is no different as it is unlikely that they can ever be repaid by the airlines that might accept them, so they will easily result in further hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that could have been used for other more meaningful purposes. 

The United States, our direct competitor, have deliberately stayed away from bailing out airlines in the spirit of fair and level playing field competition. Their airlines face the same oil prices as ours and Canada should stay away from distorting markets, both within our country and across the border to the US, especially at this sensitive time between our nations. 

WestJet has proven a different path is possible to be a viable competitor in the Canadian market. We do not take government loans and instead advocate for a competitive environment where airlines can succeed based on their own strength. 

We ask the government to abandon the cycle of corporate charity and focus on long-term stability by fixing the overdue foundational cost issues that hold our entire industry back. 

An airline looking out for taxpayers, and opposing corporate charity? Say what now? Is this WestJet’s latest April Fools prank?

Why is WestJet looking out for taxpayers, exactly?

In fairness, it can be hard for governments to strike the right balance when it comes to providing support to airlines during tough times. The goal is to preserve competition without distorting the competitive landscape.

So that’s why I was super opposed to the concept we saw in the United States, where the government wanted to take over Spirit Airlines, as it would totally distort competition. However, in theory, the concept of giving loans to airlines in as fair of a way as possible strikes me as being less unreasonable.

Obviously airlines all have different financial strength and market positions, so they won’t all have the same perspective when it comes to what kind of support is appropriate. However, the extent to which WestJet is condemning the government is quite something here.

It seems pretty clear what’s going on here — WestJet thinks that at least one of its competitors may be on the verge of going out of business and can’t weather the storm. You have to look no further than the airlines that are thanking the government for the support, and saying they’re reviewing the loan offers — Air Transat and Porter Airlines.

Now, Air Transat has actually had a bit of a turnaround, and turned a profit in 2025, so I don’t assume that’s the primary target here. Instead, it’s Porter that’s the mystery — the airline isn’t publicly traded, so it’s hard to know the company’s financial situation. However, let me just say that there’s a lot of skepticism out there about the profitability of the company’s flying, especially given the pace at which it has grown.

I get WestJet’s perspective — while WestJet also isn’t publicly traded, the company’s management team has done a stellar job carving out a strategy that works. And their lack of desire for any government support even during tough times makes it clear that the airline can weather this storm.

I will say, the one thing that makes the Canadian government’s plan a bit unfair is that a $150 million loan will go a lot further for an airline like Porter than an airline like Air Canada, given their vastly different sizes.

Bottom line

The Canadian government is trying to support airlines when it comes to the high cost of jet fuel. In addition to pausing the federal excise tax on jet fuel, the government is also offering up to $150 million in loans to offset higher jet fuel costs.

What’s interesting is how strongly WestJet opposes this — the airline claims this is a direct taxpayer subsidy to airlines, and it will result in hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars being wasted. Admittedly airlines will have different takes on this, since not everyone has the same financial strength. However, this has to be one of the firmest oppositions we’ve seen from an airline when it comes to government support.

I certainly commend airlines that have been able to build their businesses to the point that they actually plan for bad times, and can sustain operations for an extended period of time, rather than relying on government support the second things go wrong.

Credits: Canadian

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Travellers have been facing additional jams at airport security checkpoints as a partial government shutdown strains screener staffing.

The disruptions come at an already challenging time for air travel, in part because the shutdown that began February 14 has pressured staffing at some security checkpoints.

At the same time, airports are crowded with spring break travellers and fans heading to March Madness games, the annual NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments.

More than 750 flights scheduled to fly into, out of or within the US have been called off as of early Tuesday, and about 1,300 were delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.

Flight delays and cancellations piled up Monday at some of the nation’s largest airports, including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta.

The storm system that dumped heavy snow across the Midwest raced toward the East Coast with high winds reaching gusts near 50 mph (80 km) in parts of New York, the National Weather Service said.

Kelly Price, who was trying to get home to Colorado after a family vacation in Orlando, Florida, said her Sunday night flight wasn’t cancelled until early Monday.

“By that time the only place for us to sleep was the airport floor. So we’re all tired and frustrated,” she said, adding that the soonest she and her family could book another flight doesn’t leave until Tuesday afternoon.

Impact to major airport hubs

The nationwide cancellations on Monday included about 600 in and out of Chicago O’Hare International, more than 470 at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International and over 450 at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, according to FlightAware.

Citing severe weather, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops at Hartsfield-Jackson and Charlotte Douglas International Airport and ground delays at JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Danielle Cash found herself stranded in St. Louis on Sunday while trying to get home to Tampa, Florida, after a weekend girls’ trip to Las Vegas. Now she’s spending several hundred dollars more than planned on a hotel room in a snowy city she wasn’t dressed for.

“It was 80 degrees in Tampa when I left and then going to Vegas,” she said. “And it was 90 degrees in the desert.”

Cash said she’s now booked on a flight that will take her to Tennessee before finally returning to Tampa by Tuesday afternoon.

The storms unfolded just as airport security screeners missed their first full paycheck over the weekend. The current partial government shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration.

Democrats in Congress have said Homeland Security won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.

It is the third shutdown in less than a year to leave TSA workers temporarily without pay. Once the government reopens, employees will have to wait for back pay.

Some airports have reported longer security lines because of staffing shortages as more TSA workers take on second jobs, can’t afford gas to get to work or leave the profession altogether. Homeland Security has said more than 300 TSA agents have quit since the start of the shutdown.

TSA union leaders in Atlanta held a news conference Monday outside Hartsfield-Jackson, warning that air travellers could face increasingly long wait times as the shutdown continues. Even so, union leaders said, many officers are still reporting to work despite mounting financial strain.

Many TSA workers “are coping with eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts”, said Aaron Barker, a local leader with the American Federation of Government Employees.

Supporters behind him held signs reading, “We want a paycheck, not a rain check.”

Travellers flying out of New Orleans on Sunday and Monday were advised to arrive at least three hours early “due to impacts from the federal government’s partial shutdown”, Louis Armstrong International Airport said on X.

And the airport in Austin, Texas, shared a video on X taken at 5:30 a.m. local time showing the security line spilling out onto the sidewalk outside.

Back in Atlanta, Mel Stewart and his wife arrived four hours earlier than usual for their flight out of Hartsfield-Jackson to make up for longer TSA lines.

“I think it’s being politicised way too much – way too much,” Stewart said Monday of the shutdown. “And these people are working. They work hard, and for TSA people not to get paid, that’s silly.”

Air India will operate 36 additional flights to destinations in Europe and North America between March 19 and 28 amid the West Asia conflict impacting travel plans of people.

In a statement on Tuesday, the airline said it would operate additional services on Delhi-London (Heathrow), Mumbai-London (Heathrow), Delhi-Frankfurt, Delhi-Zurich and Delhi-Toronto routes.

“These flights will add 10,012 seats on the five routes, further boosting capacity and providing more choice to travellers when travel options remain limited,” it said.

The West Asia conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran that started on February 28 has disrupted flight operations, and airlines have curtailed their services in the region.

Credits: US Airlines

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