WestJet departure is low-key affair

Twenty-one months after its first plane landed in Sault Ste. Marie, WestJet's final departure will be a low-key affair at 4:30 this afternoon. Today's Flight WS72 to Hamilton will be the airline's last.

Twenty-one months after its first plane landed in Sault Ste. Marie, WestJet's final departure will be a low-key affair at 4:30 this afternoon.

Today's Flight WS72 to Hamilton will be the airline's last.

WestJet has not announced any kind of departure ceremony.

The Sault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corp. is planning to serve cake to WestJet employees on their final day.

The airline announced May 12 that it was giving up on Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, complaining that it was unable to fill enough seats during non-summer months.

Bill Lamberton, WestJet's vice president of marketing and sales, also said that its business was adversely affected by disproportionate taxes and fees.

A local delegation travelled to Calgary in June to meet with Lamberton, and expressed hope that the airline will restore service to Sault Ste. Marie in 2004.