WestJet Offers Incentives for Travelers Not to Fly

(MoneyWatch)  This year was a bad one with regards to holiday travel weather, and the airlines were faced with big customer service problems as a result. After all the weather cancellations, there were too few seats for the number of passengers that needed to get home for the holidays. WestJet came up with a unique solution.

Usually, airlines will just do their best to get people to their destination as quickly as possible, but that often leaves many angry travelers. WestJet decided to offer what it called a "voluntary cancellation incentive." If a flight was booked prior to December 22 (to avoid compensating the opportunists), and a passenger was scheduled to travel through December 26 on select routes that no doubt have the biggest problems, that passenger can get a deal. Just cancel the flight and they'll give him a voucher worth double the price of the ticket.

In addition to this offer, the airline put people up in hotels and gave them meal vouchers despite the fact that it's not required since it was a weather issue. All in, it cost a couple million dollars.

This offer may cost WestJet, but it will build tremendous goodwill. The incentive itself is all in voucher form anyway, so it brings people back to the airline. It should also build up goodwill by sifting out those people who aren't desperate to get to their destination. For some people, the lure of a double credit is enough for them to just come back and visit twice next year instead of once at Christmas. There are likely also business travelers or other people flying who aren't going for the holidays. They might be more willing to cancel their plans.

Ultimately, this frees up seats for those who really need to be at their destination for the holiday. It's a smart but expensive move, but it's one that makes a lot of sense.