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WestJet
Airlines Ltd.
A
Canadian low-cost carrier based in
Calgary, Alberta, that flies to most major
cities in Canada and 11 cities in the
United States. WestJet is the
second-largest Canadian carrier behind Air
Canada (or third-largest if you count Air
Canada Jazz). WestJet is a rarity in the
airline industry due to the fact that it
is non-unionized. Profit-sharing is
credited for this fact. WestJet plans to
be one of the world's top 5 most
profitable international airlines, by
2016.[1]. WestJet was rated the
second-best low-cost airline in North
America.[2]
 History
Founded
on February 29, 1996 by Clive Beddoe, Mark
Hill, Tim Morgan, and Donald Bell, WestJet
aimed 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-hundred twenty employees. By the end
of that same year, they had included
Regina, Saskatoon, and Victoria. In 1997,
service to Abbotsford was added. In
addition, 1997 marked the one millionth
passenger carried.
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 Sault Ste.
Marie, Sudbury, Thompson and Brandon,
although service to some of these cities
was subsequently withdrawn. 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.
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 into 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, and New York
City.
WestJet's
transborder flights fly non-stop from
Calgary (WestJet's main hub), as well as
Edmonton, Kelowna, Montreal, Toronto,
Vancouver, and Winnipeg.
Palm
Springs was added in early 2005 to the
company's list of destinations, as was San
Diego, while New York-LaGuardia was
dropped. In April 2005, they announced new
seasonal service to Charlottetown but
ceasing service to Gander. In June 2005,
the airline announced it was ceasing
service to Windsor, effective October 30,
2005, shifting capacity to nearby London.
In fall 2005, Ft. Myers and Las Vegas were
added to the growing list of
destinations.
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. In December 2005, the airline began
flying from Vancouver to Honolulu and
Vancouver to Maui. All flights returning
from the Hawaiian Islands are overnight
flights (red-eyes) allowing the carrier to
reduce fleet downtime.
In
2006, WestJet announced they were dropping
their service to San Francisco and San
Diego. WestJet's first scheduled service
outside Canada and the United States began
in 2006 with service to Nassau, Bahamas.
This was considered a huge milestone
within the company's long-term destination
strategy and was a vital goal for future
international market presence.
In
2007, WestJet announced that they would
begin flights from Deer Lake Regional
Airport in Newfoundland, Saint John in New
Brunswick, and Kitchener-Waterloo in
Ontario. There would be direct flights to
Toronto from Saint John, and Deer Lake,
and flights to Calgary from
Kitchener-Waterloo.
Also
in June 2007, WestJet added seven new
international seasonal flights to Saint
Lucia, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic,
Mexico as well as a third Hawaiian
destination; Kona.
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From
an early edition of Wingspan Magazine