I'm conflicted as to how to review Westwind as we had two different planes for our group of 16 family and friends (ages ranging from 25 - 60) who had completely different experiences on our flight over the Grand Canyon from Page Airport. My flight (which I'll refer to as plane 1), which was supposedly the NON-executive plane, had an awesome pilot named Mark, who communicated with us throughout the flight, pointing out where to look (and there's a lot you won't see/notice if you're not directed) and forewarning us of turbulence. His humor and constant, clear communication made a semi-scary extremely turbulent flight as comfortable as it could possibly be. A few of us threw up from the bumpiness, but we felt very safe in Mark's hands and were all happy with our experience.
Our other plane of 8 people however (plane 2), had an entirely different experience. This plane we were told was the "executive plane" - nicer seats, etc. However, unlike plane 1 which had secure shoulder straps and individual seats for each person, this plane only had waist belts, the last row of the plane was a bench, and their seats were not in a fixed position and so were aggressively sliding back and forth throughout the flight. This constant movement, paired with turbulence, resulted in everyone slamming their heads into the ceiling multiple times (confirmed by every passenger) and 5 of the 8 passengers vomiting throughout the flight (so much vomit that my mom (the guest of honor) had to clean out the plane after they landed while the pilot stood by watching). One person got so sick they had to go to the hospital afterwards and 3 others were ill for the rest of the day and unable to participate in the activities we had planned. Of the 8 people on plane 2, only TWO people actually saw the Grand Canyon because the others were so sick, or scared that they couldn't look.
To make matters worse, their captain, unlike ours, did not speak once throughout the entire flight. Not only did this mean they weren't getting told where to look (which you think would be a no-brainer for a tour like this), but it also made everyone incredibly nervous as they continued to hit worse and worse turbulence. Honestly, when I initially heard how terrible a time they had, I thought they were being dramatic, but when I heard THESE details (seats sliding around, heads slamming into the ceiling, and a captain who did not speak the entire 1.5 hour flight) and they were confirmed by every single passenger, I was furious.
Upon landing, as the majority of our group was throwing up outside the airport, the captains told us that that was the worst conditions they've ever flown through and that they were cancelling the rest of the flights for that day. While I'm of course glad that I (and the lucky others on plane 1 were able to see the Grand Canyon, I'm also a little skeptical of Westwind's judgment to 1) fly us in such bad conditions and 2) fly half of our group on a plane that seems incredibly unsafe and with a pilot who apparently doesn't have basic communication skills. That's not just "bad conditions," that is bad judgement and completely unacceptable and infuriating when lifes are on the line. And finally, it's really disappointing that a once in a lifetime experience was turned into a harrowing, sickening flight from hell.