WestJet

WestJet is Canada's second-largest airline, grown from a low-cost carrier out of Calgary into a national network with transborder, sun and transatlantic routes layered on top. Calgary remains the heart of the operation, with Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton carrying much of the rest, and the airline has spent recent years folding its Swoop budget subsidiary back into the mainline fleet.

That merger history is the practical thing to know when booking. The fleet is overwhelmingly Boeing 737s, but the same 737 can turn up as a two-cabin aircraft with a Premium section at the front or as a dense all-economy layout inherited from Swoop, and a refit programme is still working through the fleet. The published seat map for your specific flight is the reliable way to see which version you have drawn.

The published layouts cover the 737-700, 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 narrowbodies, several of them in more than one fit, plus the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that handles the long-haul network.

Most of the two-cabin 737s carry WestJet's Premium cabin at the front: a real two-by-two recliner section rather than a blocked middle seat. Alongside them fly all-economy 737-800s and MAX 8s from the Swoop era, three-by-three from front to back with extra-legroom rows in place of a premium cabin. The 787-9 is the flagship and the only aircraft with flat beds: a one-two-one Business cabin of Super Diamond seats, a compact Premium Economy and a three-three-three economy behind.

On the 737s, Premium is a short-haul product done properly: a wider recliner with more pitch, priority boarding and a better service, suited to the domestic, transborder and sun routes the narrowbodies fly. It is not a bed, and WestJet does not pretend otherwise; for flat-bed comfort the airline points you to the 787.

The 787-9 steps up to a full long-haul offer: fully flat Business with direct aisle access from every seat, a small Premium Economy with more room and recline, and an economy cabin that benefits from the Dreamliner's quieter, better-pressurised interior. In economy across the fleet the seat is a standard three-abreast product, with the ex-Swoop aircraft running tighter pitch than the refitted mainline jets.

On any WestJet 737 booking, the first check is which layout your flight uses: the two-cabin fits carry a Premium section worth weighing up on longer sectors, while the ex-Swoop all-economy fits make the extra-legroom and exit rows the seats worth paying for. In economy the over-wing exit rows are the legroom pick on every version, and the last rows by the rear galley are the ones to skip.

On the 787-9, solo travellers do best in the window seats of the one-two-one Business cabin for privacy, and Premium Economy is a sensible middle option on overnight transatlantic sectors. In Dreamliner economy the bulkhead and exit rows carry the extra room, and a seat forward of the rear galleys makes a night flight quieter.