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Does anyone else get a "sinking" feeling with this speech from Alexi? He seems to be doing them more frequently, like every 6 months or so. Perhaps their "business plan" on routing all of their European flights out of YYC with bargain basement fares filled by good, hard working Prairie folk isn't working?

calgaryherald.com

WestJet CEO outlines needed actions for affordable air travel

Air travel across the country is treated like a luxury when it should be considered essential, says WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.
calgaryherald.com calgaryherald.com
 
MacLac said:
Does anyone else get a "sinking" feeling with this speech from Alexi? He seems to be doing them more frequently, like every 6 months or so. Perhaps their "business plan" on routing all of their European flights out of YYC with bargain basement fares filled by good, hard working Prairie folk isn't working?

calgaryherald.com

WestJet CEO outlines needed actions for affordable air travel

Air travel across the country is treated like a luxury when it should be considered essential, says WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.
calgaryherald.com calgaryherald.com
Click to expand...
The foreign investors who bought part of Westjet from Onex recently seem to be more optimistic, but it must be hard to compete against a much larger airline.

I find this blame approach simplistic pandering which ignores the fact someone has pay for the costs of running airports and if fees are reduced then it will probably be taxpayers in general subsidizing travelers.

So I don't think this idea will fly, despite his repeated attempts. There is no free lunch here and on many flights too, although I have nice little packages of pretzels and cookies on some of my Westjet flights.

I agree Westjet is too attached to its mini hub which might have made sense at one time, but if it wants to expand now it would do better with a different broader strategy.
 
Westjet is having a tough time delivering a solid product right now with swoop/sunwing integration conversions and starlink conversion ongoing.

I was on a flight this week from YEG to YYZ and it was maybe 70% full (used to seeing 90%+) and interestingly only 3 of 12 premium seats and a couple extended comfort seats sold. Most were in econo cabin. One flight but showed a bit of weakness in selling of higher fares that was quite evident in this instance.
 
BASE said:
Westjet is having a tough time delivering a solid product right now with swoop/sunwing integration conversions and starlink conversion ongoing.

I was on a flight this week from YEG to YYZ and it was maybe 70% full (used to seeing 90%+) and interestingly only 3 of 12 premium seats and a couple extended comfort seats sold. Most were in econo cabin. One flight but showed a bit of weakness in selling of higher fares that was quite evident in this instance.
Click to expand...
I flew to yvr this week on a flight that was maybe 30 percent full. Emptiest flight I’ve been on in years and the flight attendant wasn’t surprised, said its been happening later. Hopefully just a weird time of year,.
 
MacLac said:
Does anyone else get a "sinking" feeling with this speech from Alexi? He seems to be doing them more frequently, like every 6 months or so. Perhaps their "business plan" on routing all of their European flights out of YYC with bargain basement fares filled by good, hard working Prairie folk isn't working?

calgaryherald.com

WestJet CEO outlines needed actions for affordable air travel

Air travel across the country is treated like a luxury when it should be considered essential, says WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.
calgaryherald.com calgaryherald.com
Click to expand...

As we know, the US tariff situation prompted a number of Canadians to reject travelling south causing Westjet a noticeable drop in revenue I'm sure even if International numbers have increased.

Westjet, with it's provincial money, ignores Edmonton for International flights even though the city could certainly support a London flight.

I will fly Westjet in Canada and when I decide to go back to US after Trump is done I will fly Westjet to there along with other airlines based on best price/flight times and direct options.

To Europe, its KLM for me, although I did fly Condor previosuly, too. Whatever's direct.
 
1749584711929.png
 
Seems like things are going well around the terminal, couple notes and observations:

  • Heineken Lounge area still boarded up
  • 777 slots lounge not open from the looks of things
  • Chili's patio area across from Reso in front of old Gretzky's appears to have been removed
  • Domestic gates are fairly busy and well used.
  • North portion of the domestic terminal is feeling it's age a bit and clearly awaiting it's renovation/expansion which should happen sooner than later as it becomes more challenging the busier the airport gets.
  • Wonder if they would consider a smaller security screening area at the far north end with the renovations and regional flights all moving down that way.
  • The length of the terminal is quite long but I think it's still manageable with moving sidewalks and the occasional golf cart for those with mobility issues.
  • Still a great airport to navigate.
  • Central security is able to handle current volumes well (do miss the old Harveys space they took up though).
  • Food options are tremendous maybe one day see a chain burger or sub joint emerge.
 
Ouch, likely worse than many feared. I did speak to someone who flew the Houston route and it was packed so let’s hope the new routes do ok, and if Vegas for example gets crushed my heart won’t break.
 
Stats Canada recently released new data on the number of screened passengers at YEG:

Screened traffic
January 2025​
February 2025​
March 2025​
April 2025​
May 2025​
Total passengers
267,449​
248,392​
269,497​
262,533​
287,086​
Domestic
189,283​
172,104​
189,332​
200,625​
249,122​
Transborder
37,989​
40,363​
43,138​
35,319​
29,400​
Other international
40,177​
35,925​
37,027​
26,589​
8,564​
 
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