WestJet

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WestJet

IATA WS	ICAO WJA	Callsign Westjet
Founded		1996
Hubs		Calgary International Airport Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport
Focus cities/ secondary hubs		Vancouver International Airport Winnipeg International Airport Edmonton International Airport
Frequent flyer program		AIR MILES (not run by WestJet)
Fleet size		56
Destinations		34
Parent company		WestJet Airlines Ltd.
Headquarters		Calgary, Alberta
Key people		Clive J. Beddoe (President & CEO) Sandy Campbell (Executive Vice-President and CFO) Don Bell (Executive Vice-President)
Website		www.westjet.com

WestJet TSX: WJA is a Canadian low-cost carrier based in Calgary, Alberta that flies to most major cities in Canada and 12 cities in the United States.

1 History
2 Current status
3 Current fleet
4 Destinations
5 External link

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History

Founded in 1996 by Clive Beddoe, Mark Hill, Tim Morgan, and Donald Bell, WestJet tried to follow the same path as Southwest Airlines and Morris Air, as a low-cost carrier. Originally meant to be a western Canada operation, WestJet soon became one of the fastest growing airlines in the world.

On February 29, 1996 the first WestJet flight (a Boeing 737) departed. At that time, the airline served Calgary (the airline's hub), Edmonton, Kelowna, Vancouver, and Winnipeg with a fleet of three Boeing 737-200 aircraft and two-hunded and twenty employees. By the end of that same year, they had included Regina, Saskatoon, and Victoria. In 1997 service to Abbotsford was added.

In 1999, a milestone was reached when WestJet was able to offer its first public sharing at 2.5 million shares. Also in 1999, the cities of Thunder Bay, Grande Prairie, and Prince George were added to WestJet's route map. In 2000, the airline expanded to Canada's eastern region, reaching Hamilton, Moncton, and Ottawa, and choosing Hamilton as the airline's eastern region hub. That year, Beddoe, Hill, Morgan and Bell were given the Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year award in Canada for their contribution to the Canadian airline industry. In 2001, expansion continued, to include Fort McMurray and Comox, and to the subsequently pulled cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thompson and Brandon. The airline's four creators also received another entrepreneurship award. In 2002, the airline added two new eastern Canadian destinations; the cities of London and Toronto. In April 2003, WestJet added Windsor, Montreal, Halifax, St. John's, and Gander.

WestJet Boeing 737 departing from Edmonton International Airport in March 2004

In April, 2004, WestJet moved its eastern hub from Hamilton to Toronto. All of the flights between Ottawa and Hamilton and Montreal and Hamilton were moved to Toronto, a move that brought WestJet more fully in to the lucrative Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal triangle.

In 2004, a number of U.S. destinations were added or announced. These included San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, New York (LaGuardia). Palm Springs was added in early 2005, as was San Diego. In Fall 2005, Ft. Myers, Las Vegas will be added to the growing list of destinations.

WestJet's transborder flights fly non-stop from Calgary (WestJet's main hub), as well as Edmonton, Kelowna, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.

In April 2005, they announced new service seasonal to Charlottetown. Also in April 2005, WestJet ceased service to Gander. In June 2005, the airline announced it was ceasing service to Windsor, Ontario, effective October 30, 2005, and shifting capacity to nearby London.

After rumours and speculation surrounding the implementation of extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS), WestJet announced new service to the Hawaiian Islands from Vancouver on September 20, 2005. Effective December 2005, the airline will fly from Vancouver to Honolulu and Vancouver to Maui. All flights returning from the Hawaiian Islands will be overnight flights (red-eyes) allowing the carrier to maintain a high utilization of the fleet.

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Current status

During a second quarter conference call in 2004, Clive Beddoe, announced that Westjet would be expanding to serve the United States. On September 20, 2004 Westjet commenced the first phase of its transborder flights by flying from Calgary and Toronto to Los Angeles International Airport as well as Toronto to New York LaGuardia. However, WestJet ended service to New York (LaGuardia) on July 4, 2005, citing an inability to secure gates at the airport.

Soon after, the airline announced new service from Calgary to Fort Lauderdale; Edmonton to Las Vegas; Kelowna to Las Vegas; Toronto to Fort Myers and Phoenix; Montreal to Fort Lauderdale; Winnipeg to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix; and Vancouver to Las Vegas, Palm Springs, and Phoenix.

WestJet Airlines entered into a two-year agreement with Air Transat in August, 2003, whereby Westjet Next Generation Boeing aircraft would be filled by Transat's two main tour operators, World of Vacations and Air Transat Holidays. The planes are operated by WestJet crews. Some of the destinations that WestJet planes can be found at are the Dominican Republic, Puerto Vallarta, Panama City (Panama), Cancun, Mazatlan, Varadero, Cuba and St. Martin. There are also weekly charter flights run year-round to Las Vegas, Nevada, from Calgary and Edmonton on behalf of Signature Vacations; this charter agreement is set to expire in the Fall of 2005.

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Current fleet

The airline flies a fleet that consists exclusively of Boeing 737s, taking a cue from the successful single operating type model pioneered by Southwest Airlines. By year end 2005, the operating fleet will consist of 66 aircraft; Fifty of those aircraft are now Next Generation Boeing 737 aircraft. WestJet continues to slowly retire the older 737-200 aircraft while they grow their overall fleet with Next Generation Aircraft consisting of -600, -700, and -800 series models from the 737 class. The first deliveries of 737-600 and 737-800 aircraft are due in 2005.

It was announced early in 2005 that the 737-200 fleet would be retired within the year, to be replaced by newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft. This will enable WestJet to further enjoy a lower-cost structure. However, with the abrupt end of operations by discount rival Jetsgo on March 11, 2005, the retirement of the 737-200 fleet will possibly be delayed as WestJet plans to add flights to fill Jetsgo's void.

On July 12th, 2005, WestJet announced that it had completed the sale of its remaining Boeing 737-200 to Miami-based Apollo Aviation Group (Apollo). As of March 2006, there will be no more -200 series planes in WestJet's fleet.

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