WestJet employees to vote on expanding service to regional markets

WestJet Airlines of Calgary is considering launching a regional airline with a fleet of 40 turboprop aircraft. The new service would serve Canada’s smaller communities. The low-cost carrier has been operating for fifteen years, flying a fleet consisting solely of Boeing 737s to keep maintenance and training costs down. Adding a new type of aircraft to the fleet would be a significant departure from that strategy, and would add to the airline’s costs. Employees of WestJet will be asked to vote on the proposal, which would cost the airline about $1 billion.

WestJet currently flies mainly to vacation destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and the US. If it expands its service it will be in direct competition with Air Canada, which is now the sole carrier on some routes to Canada’s small communities. Some cities that could be included in the WestJet expansion are Cranbrook, Prince Rupert and Fort St. John in British Columbia; Brandon and Thompson in Manitoba; and Sudbury, Sarnia and Timmins in Ontario.

One of the aircraft reportedly being considered by WestJet is Bombardier’s Q400. Bombardier has confirmed that the two companies are talking and that it could deliver Q400s in time for a launch date in 2013. A Bombardier spokesman said, “They (WestJet) are well aware of our regional jet portfolio.”

Also reported is speculation that WestJet could buy Porter Airlines, with its established fleet and presence at Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto.

Porter president Robert Deluce dismisses talk of the WestJet expansion as “nothing new,” and says his airline, which announced its eighteenth destination—Timmins—just this week, has no plans to change its strategy. He pointed out that no additional landing slots will be available for either WestJet or Air Canada at the Billy Bishop Airport for the foreseeable future.