Here's how the 737 MAX groundings are impacting WestJet customers

The ripple effect continues from the tragic Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashes.

As airlines remove the model from their schedules until all safety concerns have been resolved, passengers are experiencing changes to their flight itineraries.

Flight delays have caused a huge influx in standby crowds, and some passengers are being forced to cancel their flights and rebook something new, which often comes with a cost increase.

Daily Hive reached out to WestJet to seek out the options for customers whose flights have been cancelled.

“First and foremost, we thank our guests for their continued patience and understanding as we execute our contingency plan for the MAX grounding,” a rep from the airline told Daily Hive. “With an average of 35 MAX flights daily affected, until March 31 approximately 85% of the 65,000 guests booked on MAX will have had little to no changes to their flight schedules.

“While it is certainly never our intention to disappoint any guest, we understand during this busy travel time that any itinerary change can be disappointing. As the MAX grounding is a circumstance outside of WestJet’s control, we are adhering to our uncontrollable delay policy.”

Full details on WestJet’s uncontrollable delays or cancellations policies are available online here.

“As part of the automated schedule change process, due to the MAX grounding guests are moved to the next available WestJet or WestJet Encore flight,” the rep continues. “As a reminder, due to irregular operations and the grounding of our MAX aircraft, overbooking situations can happen. Occasionally, WestJet may have to swap a larger aircraft for a smaller one and has too many guests for the number of available seats.”

WestJet hopes to resume the safe operation of their 737 MAX 8 aircraft as soon as possible.

Additional information is available in an update from WestJet’s President and CEO, as well as Q&As on their blog.