WestJet is invading traditional Air Canada territory with the aim of lifting its domestic market share from 35% to 37% this year and reaching 45% by 2010.
With CanJet, Harmony Airlines, and Jetsgo gone from scheduled service, Air Canada and WestJet are now in a face-off over domestic market share. WestJet launched its recent attack with deeply discounted fares in the busy Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal triangle, where Air Canada has traditionally dominated.
The Calgary-based carrier has also set its sights on Quebec City, a bastion for Air Canada and its regional unit Jazz. Sean Durfy, WestJet's president, says it will launch flights into Quebec's French-speaking capital as soon as it can hire 70 more bilingual cabin crew.
With seven new jets due this year, WestJet is expanding into other eastern Canadian cities. In May it launched flights to Kitchener-Waterloo, Saint John and Deer Lake. Initially Air Canada said it would not match WestJet's promotional fares, but reconsidered and responded tit-for-tat by dropping its own fares in the Calgary-Edmonton-Vancouver triangle, WestJet's home turf.
WestJet chief executive Clive Beddoe claims Canada is big enough for two national carriers and both can be profitable even if WestJet takes traffic from Air Canada. He emphasises its new nationwide network and a strategy of luring budget-conscious entrepreneurs and small-business people away from Air Canada. Beddoe admits it makes no sense for one-class WestJet to court corporate travellers who are accustomed to flying business class.
Source: Airline Business
