Yes, this happened to me, too. In dealing with it, I discovered that all WestJet flights between YYZ and SXM will be renumbered as of October 31st. The downward flight will be WS2276 instead of WS2652 and the return flight will be WS2277 instead of WS2653. I'm not sure what the logic was that caused WestJet to make this change. In the dozen years since I have been coming to SXM the flight numbers were always the same.
I was originally scheduled to fly to SXM on Sunday, January 12th in Premium. Usually the notice is just a slight change in the flight departure or arrival times. Not this time. When I noticed the flight number change, I checked to make sure I was still going to SXM, since when I looked up that flight number it is currently between Calgary and Cabo. Then I also noticed that my seat was now showing as Economy.
Since I am WestJet elite, I wondered how I had been bumped down to Economy. So I went into my booking and checked the seat plan. There were no Premium seats on this flight, only Economy! As it turns out, due to the delay in receiving more Max 8s from Boeing, plus the hailstorm damage to some of its fleet in Calgary, WestJet is deploying former Swoop and Lynx Air 737s on some flights. They are all single-class aircraft. So far, my return flight on February 4th has only had the flight number changed. I will keep my fingers crossed.
I worked with customer service and was able to switch my downward flight to Friday, January 10th, which still has Premium seating showing, as did the Tuesday, January 14th flight. Now I just have to hope that they don't screw around with my new flight. If they do, I will cancel my flight and cease using WestJet. I have no idea what was going through their minds in eliminating Premium seating on a 5-hour flight, where seat comfort is more important. On a short-haul flight between Calgary and Edmonton, Winnipeg, or Vancouver it wouldn't matter so much. SMH.
.
