flight attendant

customer service representative

sales representative

product owner

senior analyst

WestJet Airlines

The culture is great, the time given to teach and encourage agents is acceptable from a Team Leader perspective. Pay was very good. Communication from Executive management and front-line managers very vague, very sketchy. Alot of upper management has zero experience from other Call Centers so isn't very good at running things efficiently. There seems to be too many people trying to run the show, and not enough people putting plans for the future into place. 

If you have previous Team Leader experience, you can do well as long as you are able to work without any direct and effective supervision and communication, emphasis on communication. Alot of policy especially attendance is not clearly defined and alot of guessing takes place. If you want feedback, you have to beg for it. Also when you get it, seems to be alot of emphasis on things that aren't important. Too much concern with regards to how the center is perceived by up management, and not enough concern with the things that really matter. Much of the skill needed to be effective as a TL has to come with you, or it's a guessing game. Their policy/process is very, very different from other Call Centers.

Customer Service is priority one as is following rules and protecting guest privacy. Constant change that plagues the Airline industry definitely trickles down to the call center. Union activity as of late has made for some difficult calls for the agents. As have flight path changes. Westjet is trying to be efficient and is making great strides to get there, and doing well at it. But many guests are not happy with the changes. 

Absolutely zero training with regards to call quality. Seems Quality is an after thought. It's a struggle to coach when the agents don't understand it.

Westjet needs to hire Executive Managers with extensive experience from other Call Centers - and then they will see huge success and improvement in morale and efficiency. There are managers in place right now that have no people skills and are just not approachable. Many mistakes with hiring have been made. Also some favoritism is definitely happening and that is hard on the morale.

The CEO at Westjet is new, and his vision is remarkable. He will be key to the longterm success of the call center and Company as a whole. Westjet needs to actively recruit experience executives with extensive experience in Contact Centers to lead the center, and get them on the right path. Until such time, the Contact Center is going to continue to suffer with unclear policy and lack of communication, not to mention poor management.

Also there are some major technical and IT challenges that plague the systems currently and make it tough on the agents due to alot of latency with their programs. 

All frontline agents work from home.  

The training department/program for front line agents needs fresh new Contact Center experienced management and a complete overhaul. This is a huge frustration when agents are done training, and actively taking calls. There are many skills that are not addressed or taught with regards to effective call handling and call quality.

So it appears that Westjet once upon a time won the awards from Waterstone Human Capital for Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture and from Aon Hewitt for Best Employers in Canada.  That was in 2015.  

Since then the culture has changed to a more corporate culture hence awards like Corporate responsibility, Trusted airline, Best Airline, Traveler's choice, Low cost airline... etc... 

It's pretty evident the focus has changed now... Even their slogan, "Owners care" makes one wonder, what is it that they now care about?  Probably not about their employees anymore as the focus has shifted.

The position I worked for was a Service and Sales Agent - Home Based.  Applicants - beware.  There is a reason why they are still hiring.  Yes, the travel benefits are great but the position has some gray areas that are quite questionable.

Home based -  your responsibility to ensure your home has all the necessary "overhead" items.  Furniture and internet service will not be compensated.  What is normally deemed an overhead item for a company now comes out of your pocket.  Also, if you have network issues (which happens often on their server) it's your responsibility to fix.  If you take too long, they will assume you took the day off.  

Micromanagement - Due to the nature of home based, it's understandable why they have use this technique but they monitor you to the second.  You get 15 minute breaks or 30 minute lunches but not a second more otherwise you will get a warning from the monitoring station.  Also, don't think you can catch up on the corporate emails when you are on "standby" as they expect you read emails and fix/hook up computer issues when you are not on call.  Essentially, expect to work 10 hours but get paid for 8.

Travel Benefits - Great!! But good luck on scheduling them. Corporate does not let you have time off easily as everything needs to booked at least a month ahead of time and there are blackout periods on what dates you can choose.  If you have an emergency that also needs to be booked ahead of time... otherwise they'll just say you've been slacking off.

Overall - it's amazing that Corporate doesn't recognize that as Service and Sales Agent we are the first line to the public.  Any calls we deal with are typically an issue as the "guest" would not be calling if there wasn't a problem to begin with, needless to say, they are not the most pleasant of calls of times.  The stress from external factors are quite significant as it's difficult to maintain a pleasant professional attitude when someone is screaming at you on the other line.  So that being said, it would be nice if corporate recognize the limitations they have imposed on this role (i.e. strict breaks, low pay, frequent server problems, little to no support, being on the phone non-stop with only a few seconds between calls, scheduling un-flexibility)

Personally, this role would be more ideal as a part-time role or basically address the limitations better.  I've heard many good things about the culture at Westjet in the past and unfortunately my experience wasn't a positive one.  The training was great but the reality needs to have bit more work.

WestJet used to be a great company to work for where management cared for and supported their employees . We were a vibrant, proud, fun-loving, caring environment with amazing leaders and co-workers. Times have changed.

Are we headed back in that direction ? It's wishful thinking ....
Will things improve ? Not anytime soon.....

Let's be real...this is a high stress/ low paying job working in the call centre. We're underpaid for the amount of abuse we put up with from customers and lack of support from management. Toxic and unhealthy.

They mislead you with false promises and  little flexibility with scheduling. Your shift times will be anywhere within a 2 hour window frame where you select a desired time block for 3 months at a time ( ex : 8am-10am, 10am-12pm, 12pm-2pm, 2pm-4pm... ) You will not get consistent start times and the ability to utilize a trade board is non-existent...

Submitting time off requests several months prior will not guarantee approval... be prepared to find out several days or a week prior whether they'll be approved or not which makes vacation planning difficult.....

There is lack of career growth as most positions within the call centre are only terms that can range from a few months at a time or longer...

Now, there are some perks like working from home, saving money and time commuting to and from the office as well as travel privileges but it's becoming difficult to travel standby these days with more employees joining .... So best pray to the Standby Gods when playing travel roulette...

Now you might be lucky and work with some amazing individuals and TLs as there are the few gems but on the flip side you can be left fending for yourself with minimal support. 

If you do happen to get hired, training can be stressful as you're tested weekly and require a minimum 80% pass with 1 permitted rewrite which means if you don't score high enough you're let go... You'll be provided with lots of support to help you along the way but for some it may be challenging learning the different programs and processes over a few weeks.... 


My overall thoughts?? If you desperately need a job then apply for the Call Centre but it's not worth the mental stress and BS you have to put up with in the long run....  For some, this could be a stepping stone to better positions but will take some time climbing the corporate ladder.... 

There is a high turnover for a reason as this is a soul sucking job where you'll lose your faith in humanity....

This was a really fun job, one of the best ones I've had yet. Being around and working on planes was pretty cool but it came with downfalls too. The schedules were really flexible and hours varied depending on what you got. The people were really fun to be around, it almost felt like family. There was literally a person for any personality there. I think being at work was a happy place for a lot of people. Normally you'd come in and see whos crew your on and what flights you were doing for that day and check the vitals of your ground equipment. The job was really straight forward too, wing walk the plane in unload it then reload it and send it back out. There are other duties as well, like servicing the waters, emptying the lavatory waste, working in the bagroom or bringing offloaded bags to the arrivals carousel (connection running). The job was usually very chill other than winter and summer storms where they would try and force crews into staying late. Management was hit or miss, some were great and others you didn't want to be around, especially one specific manager. We had wicked flight benefits and health benefits to. Fly anywhere we flew for super cheap sounds great right? Well the job came with a lot of drawbacks too. There were a lot of injuries as it was a very labor intensive job and being in a lot of awkward physically positions and the starting pay didn't really make up for this. There were also times where you and your crew would get guilt tripped into staying a bit later because not enough people were still around to push your plane that was leaving 30 minutes late. The job really had it ups and downs so I really don't think it is for everyone and that's why I wouldn't recommend it but at the same time it was okay a lot of the time too. Definitely a one of a kind job that doesn't exist anymore due to WestJet's ground crew being contracted out by ATS.

I currently work as a CSA/PSA, I knew this position was minimum wage before I even started and it is an one year probation. My dream is working in airlines and I want to move up to a certain position I want.

- wage is horrible 
- scheduling is not work life balanced friendly, you could have your scheduled changes 4 hours before you even started and it is your responsibility. But they said if it changes less than 24 hours, they’ll call you and email. I’ve talked to a couple people, and that was not the case. Many people work 2 jobs to stay a float. 
- online training for this position is not ideal, especially with those who do not have the best connections with internet and getting enough, hands on training. Constantly asking the same questions, over and over again. 
- majority of staff is part time, you have to do 120 hours minimum if you’re part time and 240 hours as full time. So if you do the math, it’s not ideal for being to live off and overtime has weird rules. Not all holidays are consider holidays apparently, based on the company’s views.
- benefits for health coming within 3 months
- flight benefits after 10-14 days when you start 
- many staff members are nice but there are a handful of catty people but that’s every work place.
- uniforms are very cheap and the fabric makes me feel itchy 
- you can apply to change positions after 6 months if you apply internally 
- for my base, most of my supervisor and managers are very to easy to talk to but I haven’t had a serious problem yet 

A typical day at work?
Westjet was not typical - you are trained in all positions and work more than one position a shift.  Sometimes up to 6 positions or more in a shift.
Hours were not typical, they fluctuated between night shifts and day shifts and graveyard shifts.  
The only thing consistent was that you had a great time, met great people and were part of a very great culture.

What I learned?
I took so much form this job on how to treat a team, how to mentor, how to lead, how to coach and how to motivate.
How to listen to your guests, and to treat people like guests not 'customers'.  treat humans as they were your friends not strangers.
I have taken so much from this position and implemented it into both my personal and professional life.  I have built models for sales and training on both a retail level and outside sales level from the things I learned at Westjet.

Management?
Extremely supportive, flexible individuals.  Great mentors

Co workers?
Westjet has the hiring model down pat.  Attracting all like personalities who work very well together.  A very fun and kind group.  I worked on extremely large teams and it was very familial atmosphere.

The hardest part of the job?
The hours.  The hours in an airport are not typical.  They fluctuate and can be very hard on your system.

The most enjoyable part of the job?
The team, and the guests.  It was always a pleasure to get into uniform and head to the airport to meet with the Team and greet the guests.  There was nothing about Westjet that I didn't love.

(I had to leave because I became a single mother and the hours were not conducive to raising at that time 2 little girls without a partner)

Working as a Flight Attendant at WestJet was a mix of great experiences and frustrating, often shocking realities. The people were mostly fun, supportive, and easy to get along with, which made long days and overnight pairings much more enjoyable. I loved the opportunity to visit amazing destinations, stay in nice hotels, and consistently pick up extra flying or overtime for additional income, which by the way is absolutely necessary as compensation for standard full time flying doesn’t come anywhere close to a living wage. The job offered some mediocre benefits, and no two days were ever the, which kept things interesting. Health and dental benefits were expensive and didn’t cover any of the big ticket items and “free flying” is anything far from free.

On the downside, there’s a noticeable gap between the company’s mission statement and how things actually operate day to day. The metrics used to evaluate flight attendants are  arbitrary and don’t truly reflect performance or guest service quality. Pay is very low compared to industry standards, especially given the responsibilities and lifestyle demands. 

Training was incredibly intense but didn’t always align with the practical skills needed for everyday flights. Overall, it’s a memorable experience with great people, but not without its challenges.

The hours are terrible. It's a seniority bidding system, so if you're new you get the worst schedule, you also have to bid on vacation time which is also seniority-based. Have a family vacation in a few months? Sorry, if those vacation time slots have been bid on by someone who has been there for longer than you, you better show up to your shifts. Be prepared to work at 4 am some days or have 4-hour shifts in the early morning. You can't pick a set of hours that work well for you. Also, they will NOT accommodate for you if you have a second job, or school or family, or even certain health conditions. If you get a certain shift, they do not care if you have a world of other things going on. You better show up or they will call you in for a reliability meeting where you need a union rep. They also advertise the pay as being 26/hour but that's only after 7 years of being there. You start out at minimum wage and you only get paid more the longer you've been there. The guests are usually okay, but if you have an issue you can't resolve be prepared to wait an hour or more for someone to help you out in the call center.

Also, you get parking, but it's about a 15-minute walk away from the airport in the green lot. There's a shuttle that only runs when it gets to about -30 out so be prepared to walk in all conditions before you start your shift, and you better look presentable even if it's pouring rain or blistering hot.

The people you work with are great and friendly and the flight benefits are all that WestJet really has going for them. I do NOT recommend working here if you can't devote your entire life to them.

In this role, you have to take an intense 3 week (used to be 9 week) training course either virtually, or at WestJet campus at the airport. It's made to seem like everyone can do this job, until you hit about day 3 in training. Trainers speed through processes, you are expected to keep up with the rigorous training. If you fall behind at all, you might as well just walk away, as you are made to feel bad for not understanding. You are tested weekly, as their way of seeing how you are grasping the content. You have to take 2 final assessments the last week of the training, and you *MUST* get 85% or you'll have to rewrite the assessments. They give you three tries for the final assessment, and literally zero time to review, as the moment you are done your third week of training, they throw you to the wolves and put you live on calls with guests, where you are subjected to questions you definitely did NOT learn in class. Calling for support is futile, as the support teams in place to help you treat you like you are stupid for asking for help, and make you feel like a total failure. Should you not make the 85% threshold for a final rewrite, no assistance is provided, just a cold, impersonal termination over a video chat. To add to the final point, they say they care, they say you are part of the WestJet family, but truthfully, they'll chew you up and spit you out without so much as a second thought. 

I work as a Sales & Service Agent. It’s a survival job, and the pay is abysmal. 

The company expects a lot from SSAs for very little pay including using their own mobile phones to manage secure logins. I don’t understand how a large company like WestJet can justify this expectation. If a mobile phone is required for the job, they should be supplying it or providing an alternative that doesn’t require a phone. Call centres employees need an effective union. 

The Command Centre runs the show and can be very difficult and demeaning to deal with. Protocols, procedures and chain of command are not clear. 

Agents rely on a consistently confusing knowledge base. Software updates for products that agents rely on are rolled out without warning, often in the middle of a shift. Knew where that button was before lunch?? Not anymore! Changes are apparently implemented with no consultation with the people using the tools. 

The job is extremely stressful, the pace is unrelenting and opportunities for real career growth are limited. 

Most customers are fine but the salty ones are extra salty. Many of them interrupt agents while they are talking and it can get on your nerves after a while. This is not WestJet’s fault but is a difficult part of the role. 

If you have a partner with a good paying job, the flight benefits are great. If you are paying all your own bills then $17/hr won’t leave you much cash to take advantage of lower cost flights. 

4/10 would not recommend 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Flight attendant 4 salaries reported	$29.75 per hour
Customer service representative 9 salaries reported	$18.11 per hour
Sales representative 5 salaries reported	$19.26 per hour
Product owner 4 salaries reported	$106,398 per year
Senior analyst 3 salaries reported	$81,667 per year

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