Calgary International Airport II

[LO 044]

Originally Posted by Cage

To answer your questions:
1) WS had the 732 until late 2005 or early 2006 (like cold January when Don Bell flew the last WS 732 out of YYC). The 732 was originally supposed to last until 2008-2010 timeframe, but a fuel cost spike and Jetsgo competition caused their accelerated withdrawal. The associated asset writedown was WS only period of unprofitability.
2) There are serious discussions about whether the 358 will ever be built or whether the overwhelming preference will be 359. The 358 is all ready too big of airplane for WS, the 359 is a nonstarter. For the record I am of the opinion the 358 will turn out like the 736 and 318, smaller aircraft are not popular and resale value is a big reason not to buy them.
3) The only reason for WS not to refurbish the widebody interior is because they could not secure seats. Many airlines are going through interior modifications right now and the lead time is quite lengthy. Business Class seats are the major bottleneck, but new economy seats are in short supply.
4) From Johny Aussie's assessment above and my perusal of Flyertalk QF forum, the 763s interiors have been retread but no major change to the seats.
5) WS will most definitely want to to Rouge/Transat their widebody product with new seats. The metrics on widebody are significant cost savings with transition to slim line seats (less fuel burn) plus there is the addition of 1-2 rows and no loss of pax comfort. New slim line seats drive down costs (through less weight on airplane), reduce CASM by increasing the pax count, increase revenue by increasing pax count.
6) Let me reiterate, WS has no plans to join and alliance(this goes against their business model and would require huge dollar investment), operate domestic or international business class. Consider that current business class product is 180 lie flat bed that is very expensive to purchase and operate. The last generation of recliner style Business Class products is what is now Premium Rouge and Air Transat big seat.
7) In place of joining an alliance, WS will form codeshare agreements with specific airlines, much like what they do today however outbound codeshare will be greatly expanded. I can see code share with BA and AF but less so potential with KLM. KLM has done a good job carving out a niche in the Canadian TransAt market and does not want WS to eat their lunch.

If what you're saying comes to fruition then WestJet will become a glorified Air Transat albeit with the possibility of connections. Winter ops will be all sun destinations and summer European destinations will be 99% from YYZ where the passenger base is large and ideal for niche European destinations.