WestJet, WestJet Vacations and 68 of their travel partners welcomed almost 450 travel agents from the Greater Vancouver area to the Vancouver Convention Centre late last week, at the last of six Travel Trade Expos held across Canada. WestJet celebrated a successful 2016, shared news for 2017, and thanked agents for their support of the airline and its products.

“Tonight is to thank our travel agents for their partnership and all they do for us,” said Shannon Cunningham, Agency Sales Manager. “They’re an extended part of the WestJet family, and our success is due to them.”

Lining up with WestJet’s increasing domestic capacity and in preparation for its global growth, Cunningham shared the company’s new tagline: “Authentically Canadian, uniquely Westjet.” before Emily Spadafora, WestJet’s business development manager for BC, outlined some new developments at WestJet/WestJet Vacations.

PHOTO: Shannon Cunningham, WestJet Agency Sales Manager in Calgary. (Photo by Janice Strong)

New developments include:

- WestJet Agent, the airline’s enhanced and improved booking tool now offers multi-city and open-jaw bookings, a 30-day calendar view, dual confirmation email addresses, and a user-friendly interface with city codes that autofill and a dynamic progress bar.

- WestJet’s new routes and flight schedules in B.C. include the launch of non-stop flights between Abbotsford and Winnipeg on April 30 and increased flights between Vancouver and Montreal doubling from six flights per week to 12. In Alberta, WestJet launched twice-weekly non-stop flights to Nashville from Calgary; three-times weekly non-stop Calgary to Mesa flights; weekly non-stop Edmonton-Mesa service; and Edmonton to Hamilton flights four times per week. In Manitoba, WestJet launched non-stop Winnipeg to Hamilton service in January.

- WestJet was named the Best Airline in Canada and Travelers’ Choice winner of Mid-Sized and Low Cost Airlines – North America by TripAdvisor.

- Earlier this month WestJet announced an agreement to purchase up to 20 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, with 10 planes to be delivered between the first quarter of 2019 and December 2021, with options for 10 more between 2020 and 2024.

- WestJet Biz will launch later this year, offering the ability to manage and customize corporate travel programs in one place; allow travellers to book and change their own travel via a mobile-friendly WestJet Biz tool; manage payment preferences, loyalty program information, traveller preference and refund credits; and grant full access to corporate clients to book travel, while crediting your agency.

- WestJet Vacations Collections are three value-added programs (family, adult and luxury) exclusive to WJV, offering extras which may include double WestJet dollars, unlimited à la cartes, welcome gifts and preferred room locations.

Speaking about the launch of the airline’s new Ultra Low Cost Carrier, Jane Clementino, Director, Agency Sales told agents, “This is important to you because more Canadians can afford to travel. They can travel the way they want to. They can travel the low cost carrier...the ultra low cost carrier, they can travel the mainline. Everyone can choose how they travel and what they spend on travel.”

The airline is reporting their 48th profitable quarter and a very big year in 2016, flying 22 million guests, which represents an 8.2 per cent increase and 1.7 million additional guests.

In addition to Vancouver, WestJet recently held Travel Trade Expos in Calgary for 370 agents on May 1 and in Edmonton for 350 agents on May 3, as well as Toronto, Mississauga and Montreal, for a total of six WestJet Travel Trade Expos this year.

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