WestJet experiencing ‘network-wide’ delays due to IT outages

WestJet experienced "network-wide" delays with its flights on Wednesday, as the carrier says outages with one of its outside technology partners and the Canada Border Services Agency caused cascading problems.

The Calgary-based airline says an outage at Sabre, which provides booking and other IT services to multiple airlines, is causing flight delays across its network and causing problems with check-in, too.

According to airline-monitoring firm FlightAware.com, the airline has cancelled eight flights on Wednesday and some 76 are delayed. That's 22 per cent of its normal flight capacity.

"Earlier today, WestJet experienced delays across our network due to a Sabre outage which affected multiple airlines that utilize this same service," the airline told CBC News in a statement.

No other airlines that use Sabre have said publicly that they are experiencing a similar problem.

In a statement to CBC News, Sabre confirmed that its network "experienced a technical issue" on Wednesday, one which "caused some customers to experience degraded performance with some of our applications. This issue has since been resolved."

WestJet's Sabre problems were exacerbated by another outage with a Canada Border Services Agency system, the airline said.

"Concurrent with this outage, we were made aware that CBSA was experiencing a system outage which compounded the delays experienced by our guests. At this time, all issues have been resolved and we are working as quickly as possible to reaccommodate all impacted guests."

The CBSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.