Canadian carriers are altering their operations to the United States as demand changes amid tensions between the two countries over tariffs imposed by the US government and comments from President Donald Trump about Canada becoming the 51st state.

WestJet (WS, Calgary) has slashed its summer 2025 schedule to the United States, citing a shift in demand, the airline confirmed to ch-aviation.

“I can confirm WestJet has observed a shift in bookings between Canada and the US to routes between Canada and sun destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean, and Europe. I’m unable to share specific data or assumptions around the demand shift, but it is common across the aviation industry to adjust network schedules to meet guest demand, as WestJet has done,” a spokesperson for the airline told ch-aviation. “As a proudly Canadian airline, WestJet is committed to ensuring air travel remains accessible, affordable and safe for all Canadians, and we’ll continue to fly where our guests want to go.”

WestJet announced earlier that it will suspend two seasonal routes from Canada to the US - from Edmonton International to Orlando International and from Calgary to New York La Guardia.

Ultra-low-cost carrier Flair Airlines (F8, Kelowna) has cancelled three routes to the US: Toronto Pearson-Nashville International, Calgary-Las Vegas Harry Reid, and Edmonton-Las Vegas Harry Reid, online schedules data shows. The airline also pushed up its suspension of four routes by almost a month, the affected routes being Edmonton and Calgary to Phoenix Sky Harbor, Vancouver International-Palm Springs International, and Kitchener-Fort Lauderdale International.

Air Canada has also been impacted by the strained US-Canadian relations. It said at an annual meeting on March 31 that its US bookings fell 10% in the six months from April to September compared to the same period in 2024. The airline also noted that it is assuming its numbers are in line with a wider industry drop.

“Yes, definitely, I’m concerned,” Air Canada chairman Vagn Sørensen was reported as saying during the meeting.

Bookings drop

The comments on the industry trend came after OAG published a weekly update on March 26 that said passenger bookings on Canada-US routes were down 70% compared to the same period last year. OAG also stated that airline capacity had reduced between the neighbouring countries until October, with July and August impacted the most.

However, a report by Canadian travel trade news site Open Jaw highlighted that Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter Airlines Canada all disputed the OAG report on a drop in bookings, saying it was inconsistent with their own data.

On a different note, Porter has expanded its US footprint but decided to slash its marketing budget for new US routes over worries that “some Canadians may view this negatively”, according to Ontario news portal INsauga.

According to ch-aviation capacities data, Air Canada accounts for over 40% of all flights from Canada to the US, with 5,969 flights scheduled in May. The Canadian flag carrier is followed by United Airlines on the list with 2,087 flights, WestJet with 1,873 flights, Delta Air Lines with 1,492 flights, American Airlines with 1,358 flights, Porter with 982, and others with fewer than 500 flights in the period.

Changes in travel trends in Canada were also recognised by Statistics Canada which said that in February 2025 Canadian residents flew back from 585,700 trips to the US, marking a drop of 13.1% year-on-year. Automobile return trips dropped even further, by 23% year-on-year to 1.2 million.