Winnipeg Richardson International Airport — Local services in Winnipeg

I wish I could give this no star. I booked a flight with westjet requesting full assistance for my 70 years old mom; she has arthritis and can't stand for long periods. I checked her in online, that didn't make any sense apparently, because when she attempted to do the bag drop, a very rude agent told her to join the check in assistance line because she didn't have bag tags. After waiting in line for more than 15 minutes, i went to the special assistance section and was told she had to be checked in before she could get a wheel chair.

When she finally got to the counter, the agent took his own sweet time, doing whatever it was that he was doing. He charged her ($120 then changed to $60) for the second checked luggage even though I already paid and showed the receipt for it. He had no idea about fare options, didnt know what econo flex was or what was included and he didn't know how to check that info.

When he finally finished after another 20 minutes, he just dismissed her. When I asked about the special assistance, he looked surprised! He told us she would have to wait until someone could get one, bear in mind the wheelchairs were less than 20m behind him. Nevertheless, my mom had to wait again! By this time she was limping. When he got the wheel chair, surprise...surprise! She had to wait because he didn't have anyone to assist her.

I took my mom to the washroom and back. The agent was gone..no assistance in place. I asked another agent for help, she looked lost, I asked the person watching the wheel chairs cuz apparently that's all she does, and was told to ask the agent. That agent had no idea who was supposed to assist my mom, three agents proceeded to bicker with each other about what's in it for them. At 5:44pm, 6 minutes before my mom's flight started boarding, an agent decided to take her inside.

Disgusted is not even enough to describe the very awful treatment that was meted out to my mom. Why have special assistance if you're not going to assist? Elderly people should automatically qualify for special assistance! Let them turn it down. Customer service and basic training is lacking at westjet and...

1star is too much for such service, would enter -5 if I could.

Aweful service, fully incompetent staff at the check-in windows. They would avoid solving the problem until you miss your flight and then with a fake look of sadness they would tell you they don't have anything available.

And even when you ask for a manager they wouldn't call for one and pretend they are busy!!!I spent 1.5h fighting with them until the manager finally showed up and at that point I've missed my flight. They kept finding excuses why they served at least 10people who were behind me in the queue (and the full airport of people for other flights until airport got empty) and did not prioritize the issue with my ticket at all, distracting themselves on different people. And in the end the worker who has done the mistake did not even apologize for messing up, she kept mumbling "unfortunately idk what is the issue". WestJet gave her clear instructions to go and click a picture of my travel document but apparently this is such a "hard" task, that only a manager can do it. (I mean if the manager was busy the check-in worker could just go to the manager herself and it takes 1 minute if not less to click a picture). She was sitting there stuck waiting until her colleague "would tell her", while the colleague kept going with the queue. I had to fight in order to even TALK with a manager after 1.5h My flight was supposed to happen today, on August 16th at 6:30am and I'd be at my destination point on August 17th, 6:30am, Warsaw. Instead of this they offered me a flight on August 19, 3:15 pm with arrival on August 20, 4:05pm. I planned my vacation in advance and got tickets in advance and someone just ruined it like this, just by stealing 3days of my time and not even take the responsibility for all this mess.

Aweful experience with incompetent people!! Teach your stuff how to set priorities when the issue with your system appears and not ruin someone's precious time. And if they are not able to comprehend it then place someone who does....

It is a good size airport, not so long that you have to run forever to get to your gate! However, size does not always mean it is a good thing, as well. Even though such things like a lot of security, more than when I went through the security control, almost two years ago, you have very limited places to get either food, or coffee, before security. Once through the check-point you do you the Starbucks, and the other places to either shop, or get your food and drinks. The Starbucks was limited, though, and of course as always the other convenient places are expensive to buy anything. But, the VIP type of a lounge is VERY clean looking. The seating, at the gates, are not cleaned properly, so always make sure you have distinctive handy. Now lets talk about the airport ground, such as the runway, etc.....well, it does NOT take long for a Boeing to get from the gate out to the runway, which was all renovated, so I have to say that even taxing to the runway is much smoother than at the Calgary International airport. Security are not bad, as well. The female security, that helped my guest, was very patient, and very helpful, and the security were prompt for that date of October 17th, at around 5 pm, or so, whom was the first officer at the pick-your-tote area to put your items in. I've also never had a problem with any of them, some can be too serious, some are very pleasant......but I can relate to some of the unruly passengers that come through. Thank you again, to all staff, at the James Armstrong International Airport to help all of us out, when need it, such as also the front counter...