...company started in 1996 by a small group of entrepreneurs. According to the References for Business website for WestJet the WestJet founder Clive Beddoe was born in England and came to Canada and made a “fortune in developing commercial real estate in the Calgary area (References for Business website 2010)”. Clive Beddoe teamed up with Tim Morgan, Don Bell and Mark Hill to start a now frills airline according to the References of Business website. The WestJet Annual Information Report 2009 says WestJet started with three planes flying to five Canadian cities; Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. WestJet’s IPO was in 1999 on the Toronto stock exchange as WJA with Steven Smith as CEO (References for Business website 2010). WestJet Airlines Limited is made up of four subsidiaries; WestJet Aircraft Acquisition Corporation, WestJet Investment Corporation, WestJet Operations Corporation, WestJet Vacations Incorporated(WestJet Annual Information Report 2009 p.9) . The WestJet mission statement is “to enrich the lives of everyone in WestJet’s world by providing safe, friendly and affordable air travel (WestJet Annual Information Report 2009 p. 18)”. Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses Organizational Strengths First Organizational Strength A major strength of WestJet is the corporate culture. Corporate culture affects performance. WestJet was named Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures for four years in a row by Waterstone Human Capital and recently...
Words: 2037 - Pages: 9
...weStJet mini case a great guest experience As the filled-to-capacity Boeing 737 taxis to the ramp at Maui’s Kahului Airport, 200 weary travellers are brought back to life by the a capella stylings of the lead flight attendant’s playful rendition of “Over the Rainbow.” Customers, or “guests” as WestJet prefers to call them, quickly realize that they are now part of another unique WestJet moment. They chuckle as the WestJetter cleverly integrates local time, temperature, and gate information into the lyrics, but he earns genuine LOLs when he works in the verse, “flying to Hawaii is free when you’re a WestJet employee.” Thus, despite being awake since 4:30 a.m., boarding a plane in Calgary in the dead of a prairie winter, and enduring a seven-hour flight with two young children who refused to sleep, these “guests” are ready to embrace the magic of Maui. The travellers may never know the reason for the improv performance, but maybe it was just another example of what the advertisements have been telling us for the better part of a decade: “Owners care,” a slogan communicating how the airline’s employee stock option package motivates participating WestJetters to go just a little bit further to please. WestJet’s philosophy of creating customer value is not based in its industry-leading turnaround times, modern fleet of planes, or even its competitively priced fares. Customer value stems from the core of a corporate culture, something only achievable when your people are engaged...
Words: 6853 - Pages: 28
...to become a major competitor among international carriers. The low cost “no-frills” service and corporate culture have been the praise of West Jet success. To use market share as a measure, West Jet began with none and now has approximately 33% Canadian market share with plans for this to increase. Nonmarket Environment West Jet has developed a very strong market position in a short period of time. They certainly have a strong marketing strategy and low-cost structure that promotes strong margins. The non-market environment can nullify any market advantages such as price and product attributes, so it is crucial to the long term success of an organization to identify and act on issues. Here I have identified some non-market issues that WestJet either currently faces or has faced in the past, I will briefly analyze each to determine WestJet’s non-market...
Words: 2161 - Pages: 9
...909C12 WESTJET: BUILDING A HIGH-ENGAGEMENT CULTURE Ken Mark wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Gerard Seijts solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2009, Ivey Management Services Version: (A) 2009-08-11 INTRODUCTION In late April, 2009, a senior manager at WestJet Airlines (WestJet) came across two news articles — one in Maclean’s, a Canadian news magazine, and the other in the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper — that hinted at a dilemma faced by WestJet: How to continue to build its high-engagement culture as it experienced high rates of growth?1 WestJet stood out from other Canadian airlines in many ways. For example, despite a difficult year in 2008, WestJet was one of only a few airlines worldwide...
Words: 9641 - Pages: 39
...WestJet Ltd. Business History West Jet Airlines is the second largest airline in Canada, the first being Air Canada. The Airline has its headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is run by Gregg Sarektsky, who is the CEO and President of the airline and Clive Beddoe, who is both the Chairman of the board of directors and a co-founder of the Airline. West Jet Airlines employs roughly 10,000 employees as of August 2014. The Airline was founded by Clive Beddoe, David Neelman, Mark Hill, Tim Morgan and Donald Bell. WestJet Airlines is a non-unionized company and is not part of any other airline alliance. It however has a subsidiary- WestJet Encore. The Airline’s first flight was on February 29, 1996. (Arnusch, 2013) The Airline in its early starting years had all its routes in Western Canada, and this is where its name is derived from. Between 1996 and 2001, the airline experienced changes in leadership and shareholding. The Companies changed its CEOs From Clive Beddoe, to Steve Smith in 1999. As of 1999, the company made its first Initial Public offering. Steve Smith was replaced by Clive Beddoe again in 2000 until 2007. Later the company rose, expanding its destination flights to include more international flight. In terms of domestic shares, the airline rose from 7% in the year 2000 when, Air Canada was at 77% to 38% in the year 2009 when Air Canada was at 55%. The airline is clearly rising against its main competitor. (The Globe and Mail). The Airlines main goals as of...
Words: 872 - Pages: 4
...Our Airline WestJet Airline was founded in 1996 by Clive Beddoe and a team of people with the same thinking. WestJet airlines were started with the philosophy that just because you pay less doesn’t mean you should get less. Clive Beddoe and team started their journey with three aircraft fly to five destinations and 220 friendly WestJetters — a journey that would help them become a company of more than 8,800 passionate WestJetters flying one of the youngest fleets of Boeing 737 Next-Generation aircraft to more than 80 destinations in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Culture “Owners Care” is what WestJet Airlines says in their ads. WestJet entire corporate culture has been built around caring for their customers, by providing a great customer service experience. This resulted them to claim top spot in Waterstones' study of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures for four years, WestJet was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2011 WestJet was designated as a J.D. Power Customer Service Champion (one of two companies in Canada and the only airline to make the list), ranked 3rd in Aon Hewitt's best employers in Canada and was chosen as the Canadian airline with the best flight attendants by flightnetwork.com. On top of this WestJet was chosen as Canada's preferred airline. mission To enrich the lives of everyone in WestJet's world by providing safe, friendly and affordable air travel. vision By 2016, WestJet will be one of the five most successful...
Words: 307 - Pages: 2
... Michael Pienkowski WestJet Case Analysis 6/9/2015 WestJet Case Analysis WestJet Airlines is a fairly new airline based out of Canada that started out small, but soon distinguished itself from other airlines by the way that they operated. Starting in 1994, they quickly found their niche market as a discount airliner by only flying to certain areas of Canada. Clive Beddoe, a founder of WestJet, discovered a demand for short distance flights to certain parts of Canada that many larger airlines were not willing to offer since short distance flights were not cost effective for them. WestJet grew slowly and developed their own style of operation that included a lack of a union as well as a “Fun” corporate structure. Their employees were also some of the highest paid workers in their fields. These are the just some of the reasons why WestJet believes that they are so successful. The problem in the WestJet case is that the reasons that allowed them to thrive and become so successful in the past, might be the same reason that their growth will slow down in the future. Their culture of being “fun” and success in their niche market has allowed them to grow into a larger airline that is very effective in short distance flight travel. A newer company can grow successfully...
Words: 1355 - Pages: 6
...order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Copyright © 2015, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2015-05-22 In early 2014, Ferio Pugliese looked back on his turbulent first nine months as president of WestJet Airlines Ltd.’s (WestJet) new regional air service Encore. Officially launched in Western Canada in June 2013, this venture represented the company’s most significant organizational change in its 18 years of dramatic growth and was billed as WestJet’s “second coming” — hence, the chosen name Encore. The process of expanding the airline’s fleet to include smaller, short-haul aircraft servicing smaller destinations throughout Western Canada had not been without growing pains. The on-time performance for Encore got off to a rocky start, with no gentle breaking-in period for ramping up the new service. Integrating the smaller Encore fleet into the fully functioning and mature WestJet network presented challenges to maintaining efficiencies. The integration had also necessitated organizational changes for some...
Words: 4982 - Pages: 20
...YYZ 9:27am 2h 27m Your Savings Layover: 2h 13m Toronto Oranjestad 5h 5m Best Price Guarantee Congratulations! You're getting the lowest possible rate. We guarantee it. YYZ 11:40am Air Canada 1294 Economy/Coach (M) October 10, 2013 - Return Oranjestad AUA 4:45pm 2 stops Newark Total travel time : 17h 33m 4h 52m AUA 2:59pm UNITED 1039 Economy/Coach (L) EWR 7:51pm Important Trip Information We want you to know this trip has the following restrictions regarding your flight and hotel. Layover: 1h 41m Newark Toronto 1h 43m EWR 9:32pm YYZ 11:15pm UNITED 5676 Operated by /EXPRESSJET AIRLINES DBA UNITED EXPRESS Economy/Coach (L) Layover: 7h 15m Toronto Halifax 2h 2m Tickets are nonrefundable and nontransferable. A fee of US$200.00 per ticket is charged for itinerary changes. Name changes are not allowed. The airline may charge additional fees for checked baggage or other...
Words: 538 - Pages: 3
...companies and industries were affected in some way. The airline industry was certainly not immune from the many problems in the economy. In an attempt to assist a friend in deciding whether it is worthwhile to invest in WestJet, a Canadian airline company, a thorough analysis of WestJet was undertaken to assist her in making her decision. Requirement # 1 WestJet, ‘Canada’s leading high-value low-fare airline’, was founded in January 1996 by four Calgary entrepreneurs: Clive Beddoe, Mark Hill, Tim Morgan and Donald Bell. One month later in February, WestJet started operations with 220 employees, three aircrafts and flying only to five cities within Canada. Over the subsequent months, the WestJet team was successful in attaining the sufficient funds to expand their business which allowed them to purchase additional aircrafts as well as the building of a new Head Office in Calgary among other things. Today, after thirteen years of operation, WestJet now offers service to 66 destinations across Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. It has also earned the reputation as ‘Canada’s leading high-value low-fare airline’ at the same time competing with its number one competitor Air Canada. “But as WestJet inevitably usurps Air Canada to become the country’s largest domestic airline, the older carrier might pause to take some lessons from its conqueror”2 says one report in comparing WestJet with Air Canada. WestJet is currently one of the...
Words: 2624 - Pages: 11
...Project 1 WestJet Accepts Blame for Spying on Air Canada The issue of the case is that WestJet spied on Air Canada -- one of the biggest airline companies to obtain confidential information. The competition in the airline market is fierce. As a competitor, WestJet tries to match the competition on the pricing, scheduling, and routes. In order to create a competitive advantage, WestJet gathered business information unethically from Air Canada’s website. For example, Westjet collected data to identify booking trends, so they can decide which route is more profitable and to start a new route. Also, if WestJet knows the buying habits of Air Canada, it will help Westjet to develop a pricing strategy to maximize their profits. In order to get these valuable and accurate information and to be more competitive with lower costs, WestJet chose to detect its competitor via the website. Information collecting helps WestJet to grow its business. To deal with the rivalry of existing competitors, Westjet needs to provide a product or service that their customers place a greater value on than similar offering from a competitor. For this organizational objective, WestJet needs to undertake some actions to gather these information first. To deal with the issue, Westjet gained access to the Air Canada Employee website to steal confidential data by using a former Air Canada employee’s account and personal password. Moreover, in order to be more effective, one Westjet employee...
Words: 615 - Pages: 3
...leadership and the external environment for the following four airlines: AirTran, Delta, WestJet and Air Canada. Introduction The drive for lower operational costs and increased efficiency has forced many companies of the world to turn towards mergers and acquisitions. However, even then when companies realize that cost cuts cannot be born out of “corporate marriages”. Instead a new trend in strategic management emerged to achieve similar objectives - forming alliances. Among the industries, alliances and networking are dominant in the airlines industries with North America securing the leadership position followed by European carriers. Both the Canadian and the US airlines industries account for a market approximately $4.5 billion and $5.5 billion respectively (Factsheet from WestJet Website 2005), offering widespread opportunities for airlines to exploit and explore. Yet one observes many airlines have been filing for bankruptcy protection; others constrained for profit margins; and there are some that are enjoying greatly the benefits of these vast markets. There are a host of reasons macro and micro factors responsible for the diversified operational outcomes of airlines. In the following discussion the researcher offers an overview of the North American airline industries through a macro and micro environmental analysis of the four of the leading airlines in the US and Canada - namely AirTran, Delta, WestJet and Air Canada with the hope to identify the key strategic areas...
Words: 6217 - Pages: 25
...To Whom it May Concern; This letter is to express my interest in the position of flight attendant with WestJet as posted on your website. After reviewing the job description, I am confident I have the skills, attitude, and personal experience to integrate effortlessly into the WestJet team. While I have no direct work experience in the airline industry specifically, I do have personal life experience, and a work and educational background that I believe you will find invaluable. As per your requirements: ▪ I am 5'6", neat and well groomed, and accustomed to meeting strict uniform standards. ▪ I have excellent written and oral communication skills. ▪ I am committed to ongoing improvement and professional development. ▪ I am able to travel away from home, work long hours, any time of day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. ▪ I am fit, athletic and able to meet the challenges of a physically demanding job. ▪ I am tolerant, polite and enjoy working with people from diverse backgrounds. ▪ I have 11 years experience handling emergency situations with calm, assertive leadership. ▪ I appreciate the need to adhere to safety standards and follow workplace procedures. ▪ I have 3 years experience working as a flight paramedic on a Beechcraft King Air 350 for the BC Air Ambulance Service. ▪ I hold a valid Canadian Passport. As well, to facilitate my transition into this new, dynamic career, I am currently improving my formal education. At present I am taking...
Words: 354 - Pages: 2
...Checkpoint: JetBlue & WestJet XBIS/219 February 20, 2014 Chuney Johnson Checkpoint: JetBlue & WestJet A reservation system at airlines such as JetBlue and WestJet are very important because the system is what is required in order for the airline to operate. The reservation system is like that heartbeat of the business. The system is what manages seating, scheduling and rebooking. Customers and employees rely on this system to store information like baggage or the customer’s personal information. With this system, it assists in determining how to price tickets based on the amount of customers on a flight. The airlines can monitor flying and spending habits of its customers to determine how to market the business and satisfy the flyers. Anytime an organization upgrades a system, there are going to be risks and bugs to work out. A smart idea is to prepare for the worst and also to have the support and proper resources to accommodate the customer with little to no impact. WestJet launched the new system assuming it would be smooth and not preparing for a way to assist their customers in case it does not work. They ended up getting extra support and a backup after they system failed them. “The critical issue was the transfer of WestJet’s 840,000 files containing data on transactions for past WestJet customers who had already purchased flights” (Laudon & Laudon, 2013). When something like this happens, an organization risks the possibility of tarnishing the...
Words: 659 - Pages: 3
...Introduction WestJet was born in Calgary 15 years ago. Today it is one of the most profitable airlines in North America with the total revenue of $ 2; 3 billion in 2009. Leaders of the company believe that the core to their success is care.” Handle with care” is the company credo and not only that. It is everyday reality and the way how the company does the business. Other two key elements contributing to the success are low–cost structure and company’s culture, which is unique in the airline business. WestJet was awarded four times as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture and in 2010 survey as one of the best employer in Canada. Company History History of the company started with successful businessmen Clive Beddoe from Calgary. In 1994 he bought Western Concord Manufacturing Ltd., which brought him to the flying business. He bought small cabin plane and flew it himself, in order to save money on company’s executives’ high air travel expenses. Later he leased the plane to other businesses via local charter operation Morgan Air Service Co Ltd.Beddoe saw an opportunity in offering cheap flights which could afford everyone. Tim Morgan, the president of Morgan Air Service Co and two others investors liked Beddoe’s idea about starting their own discount airline. Together they approached other investors and in 1995 the accumulated more than $8, 5 million dollars for starting new airline. The company was officially founded in May 1995 under name West Jet Airlines Ltd. In February...
Words: 3286 - Pages: 14
