WestJet
WestJet is a regularly scheduled passenger airline that flies mainly in western Canada.
Begun 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, a low-cost carrier. Morris Air, however, was purchased by Southwest shortly after WestJet was created.
On February 29, 1996 the first WestJet flight (a Boeing 737) departed. At that time, the airline served Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kelowna, British Columbia, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. By 1997, they had included Victoria, Regina and Saskatoon and in 1998 service to Abbotsford, British Columbia was added.
In 1999 a milestone was reached when WestJet was able to offer its first public sharing at 2.5 million shares, and 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, Comox, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thompson and Brandon. The airline's four creators also received another entrepreneur award. In 2002 the airline added two new eastern Canadian destinations, the cities of London, Ontario and Toronto. In April, 2003, Westjet added Windsor and Montreal as a destination. Halifax, Moncton, St. John's, and Gander have also been added. 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 into the lucrative Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal triangle.
The airline still flies a fleet that consists exclusively of Boeing 737's.
Copyright note
Photo owned by, and courtesy of, Mr. Richard Barsby.
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