WestJet Adds $60 Fuel Surcharge for Companion Pass Bookings

Canada’s WestJet is adding a $60 fuel surcharge on all bookings made using a companion voucher starting April 8.

The move, like others in the industry, is a result of rising oil costs driven by the conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz. The charge applies only to those companion vouchers, and only to those used for bookings made on or after the April 8 cutoff.

In an email to guests, WestJet explained that it is targeting companion vouchers because, unlike standard airfares that can be adjusted in real time, vouchers have fixed prices that lack pricing flexibility. The airline stated the surcharge is a temporary measure until jet fuel prices “return to normal levels.”

The list of airlines adding fuel surcharges is growing. Air Canada added a $50 surcharge to Air Canada Vacations packages starting today, and Cathay Pacific added a $200 per-leg surcharge on its long-haul flights last week. Other carriers, including British Airways, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Air India, Qantas, and Air New Zealand, have all added varying surcharges to account for high oil prices and supply chain disruptions.

Emirates, maybe the carrier most impacted not just by jet fuel prices but by the conflict in general, updated its carrier fees last week to include a surcharge. For flights to the Americas, the surcharge is now $322 per leg for Economy and a 1,023 per leg for Business and First Class.

While no major U.S. carrier has added a formal surcharge yet, United Airlines and JetBlue did raise fees for checked bags last week—changes that are permanent, unlike the temporary fuel surcharges seen elsewhere.

A lot of airlines are also cutting capacity to protect margins. United Airlines moved to trim about 5% of its planned flight schedule for the second and third quarters, specifically targeting off-peak midweek and red-eye flights. At the time, United CEO Scott Kirby said that while demand remains “the strongest we’ve ever seen,” those routes simply cannot absorb a fuel bill that has doubled in three weeks.

Lufthansa is reportedly weighing a plan to ground up to 40 aircraft—roughly 5% of its fleet—while Air New Zealand has already axed 1,100 services through early May.