Hello everyone, my name is Alex, and in today’s video, I wanted to take a look at the fleet
of another one of Canada’s major airlines.
WestJet Airlines was founded in 1996, and is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.
The airline originally started up as a low-cost carrier, serving 5 cities in Western Canada.
23 years later, WestJet has since grown to become Canada’s second largest airline,
with a fleet of well over one hundred aircraft.
As a native Calgarian and long-time flier of WestJet, I felt this was a topic worth covering.
Starting off with a look back at WestJet’s former fleet.
When the airline started up, they had 3 Boeing 737-200 aircraft.
Over their 9-year tenure with the airline, WestJet flew as many as 24 different 737-200s.
With the steady introduction of 737 Next Generations in the early 2000s, WestJet began retiring
these aircraft, in favour of their more modern counterparts.
The final 737-200 left the fleet in 2006, but two aircraft still remain on the ground
at Calgary International Airport.
One is used as a trainer, and the other was donated to the Southern Alberta Institute
of Technology.
These were all replaced with newer aircraft as the airline expanded, and here’s where
we get into WestJet’s current fleet, as of August 2019.
Like most major airlines, WestJet has a few subsidiaries under its ownership.
These serve most of the airline’s short-haul flights, as well as a different market entirely.
Starting off small, with WestJet Link.
In November 2017, WestJet Link was announced as a way to serve smaller markets through
a Capacity Purchase Agreement with Pacific Coastal Airlines.
Under this agreement, Pacific Coastal would fly Saab 340s on behalf of WestJet to smaller
cities that couldn’t support a 737 or Q400, and I’ll talk more about that in a minute.
At the time of uploading, WestJet Link currently flies to 5 cities from WestJet’s hub in Calgary.
Officially, there are three airplanes painted in the WestJet Link livery, but the actual
number flying for WestJet varies, since they are Pacific Coastal airplanes.
Next up, we have WestJet Encore.
Encore was created in 2012 in order to allow WestJet to expand into smaller markets, and
provide more frequency in others.
This couldn’t be done with their 737-only fleet, which put WestJet at a disadvantage.
WestJet Encore now operates 47 Bombardier Q400s all across the country.
Essentially, the difference between WestJet Link and WestJet Encore is that WestJet Link
is a brand name with flights operated by a third party, while WestJet Encore is a seperate
airline, operating their own flights.
Moving on to Swoop Airlines.
Swoop was founded in 2017, as a wholly owned ultra-low cost subsidiary of WestJet.
They currently operate 7 Boeing 737-800s that were transferred from WestJet.
Eventually, they’ll have 10 737-800s, but the remaining three are delayed due to the
MAX issues at their parent company.
As a result, Swoop has had to put some expansion plans on hold, recently cancelling two new
routes from Edmonton and Abbotsford to San Diego.
And now, onto the mainline WestJet fleet.
WestJet’s mainline fleet is all Boeing, and currently includes four 737 variants.
13 737-600s, of which WestJet is the largest operator in the world,
52 737-700s,
41 737-800s,
And 13 737 MAX 8s.
WestJet also has a steadily growing widebody fleet, including:
4 Boeing 767-300ERs.
These were purchased in 2014 as part of a widebody trial, where they launched flights
overseas from multiple Canadian cities to London Gatwick.
And finally, their largest aircraft, and the flagship of the fleet.
Three Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
WestJet received the first of these earlier this year, and currently fly them domestically
between Calgary and Toronto, and internationally from Calgary to London, Paris, and Dublin.
Not that you’d have any idea looking at my channel, I’ve barely covered their 787.
So, looking ahead, what does the future hold for WestJet’s fleet?
At the moment, there are no confirmed plans (that I know of) to expand the WestJet Link fleet further.
However, with the recently announced addition of Vancouver to Cranbrook, it is possible
that more airplanes will be added, and hopefully painted.
Likewise, there are no outstanding orders for WestJet Encore, so the fleet of 47 turboprops
will stand firm for now.
Some of WestJet’s earliest 737-700s have already been retired, including, most recently,
tail 001, their first 737NG.
A few of the older -700s will also leave the fleet over the coming months.
The Boeing 767s will be staying for the moment.
Until more Dreamliners arrive, the 767s are still needed on WestJet’s seasonal long
haul flights from Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, to London-Gatwick.
WestJet has no remaining orders for the 737 Next Generation, and the final one was delivered in 2017.
Their current orders for 737s are all for the MAX -
22 for the MAX 7, due to be delivered starting in 2021.
23 orders for the MAX 8, 13 of which have been delivered already,
And 12 for the MAX 10, with WestJet taking delivery of these aircraft starting in 2022.
WestJet’s CEO, Ed Sims, has stated that some MAX 7 orders might be converted to MAX
8s or MAX 10s instead.
This delivery schedule will likely change as the MAX re-enters service and Boeing sorts out production.
In 2017, WestJet ordered 10 787-9 Dreamliners, with options for 10 more.
With the first three aircraft already in revenue service, the next three 787s will be delivered
in 2020, and the final four in 2021.
The 10 optioned aircraft would be delivered between 2020 and 2024.
It’s not known where these additional aircraft will fly just yet.
However, in the upcoming winter season, the current 787s will continue to fly domestically
between Calgary and Toronto and from Calgary to London four times a week.
In addition, the Dreamliner will begin flying daily from Toronto to London, and twice a week, from Calgary to Maui.
Calgary’s hometown airline has come quite a long way since their early days.
With a formidable domestic fleet of Saab 340s, Q400s, and 737s, along with the ever-growing
widebody fleet of 767s and 787 Dreamliners,
... the future looks promising for Canada’s second largest airline.
As always, thank you very much for watching!
I hope you all enjoyed this look at Calgary’s hometown airline. Do let me know what you
thought of the video in the comments below.
Otherwise, leave a thumbs up if you enjoyed, subscribe if you’re new to the channel,
and I’ll see you in the next one.