WestJet Rewards - Southwest dumps Canada deal with WestJet

http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20100416fe

DALLAS (AP) -- Southwest Airlines is dropping plans to sell travel to Canada in a partnership with WestJet.

Southwest said Friday it pulled out after the Canadian carrier asked for changes in the agreement that the two reached back in 2008.

WestJet would have done all the cross-border flying, and both airlines would have sold seats on each other's flights.

Southwest doesn't fly anywhere outside the U.S., but it says it's still interested in serving Canada either by itself or with a partner airline.

It will be interesting to see if Westjet's actions goad Southwest into flying to Canada on their own.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100416-711783.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesAmericas

TORONTO (Dow Jones)--Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said it has canceled its two-year-old code-sharing agreement with WestJet Airlines Ltd. (WJA.T) Friday after the low-cost Canadian carrier wanted to revamp the terms of their deal.

Their pact, signed in July 2008, hadn't been implemented.

Calgary-based WestJet, which modelled itself after Southwest, sought changes to their highly anticipated, but long-delayed, union to pursue an alliance with another U.S. carrier, Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL). In a statement, Southwest said that, "upon reviewing the number of changes that WestJet has requested, we have decided that it is in the best interest of both parties to move forward independently."

"It is disappointing, because Southwest looked like such a good natural fit," says Genuity Capital Markets David Tyerman. "But it doesn't preclude WestJet from finding enough other partners, or maybe they only need one to execute their trans-border strategy."

"There are other fish in the pond," he said.

The headline should have read "WestJet dumps Southwest" because that's what happened!

Canadians have a built in inferiority complex and think that all things US are better than all things Canadian!

:)

Though I would have liked to see this deal go through, I don't actually care which carrier they partner with (okay, well I almost don't care which one). They just NEED to partner with an US carrier. I've never flown WS to the USA. AC, Alaska, United, Delta.... but never WS.

Funny how this is being spun as bad news. If anything Southwest would have dragged Westjet down in terms of passenger (or "guest") service: Free seating, cattle calls no IFE, "milk-run" routes, flights to secondary US airports of little interest to most Canadians. Yes WN is cheep and cheerful...

I think the WN "bare bones/flying bus" model is losing its appeal to travellers more and more due to the whole airport experience becoming such a hassle, and there does not seem to be an urge in ressurecting a new 'Jetsgo". Instead you have the likes of Porter and Virgin America growing and raising the bar industry-wide. Even DL is installing IFE on all its fleet.

I think that by getting cozy with KL/AF/DL, WS made the right move
Good riddance to that WN deal. Now if only one could earn Skymiles on WS flights :)

Good for WestJet. =)

From the Dallas Morning News:

Southwest-Westjet Deal Collapses (http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/04/southwest-westjet-deal-collaps.html)

(emphasis added)


The killer was WestJet's desire to code-share with Delta Air Lines at New York LaGuardia, with slots that WestJet would pick up from Delta.

WestJet asked for changes to the agreement to allow the Delta arrangement; Southwest said no, and goodbye.

From another thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/westjet-frequent-guest/1067708-westjet-likely-partner-delta-instead-southwest.html)

WestJet is also lined up to receive five daily slots at New York's LaGuardia airport as an offshoot of a slot swap between Delta and U.S. Airways.

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=2731968#ixzz0lJ79BmWw

I thought in the proposed DL/US slot deal that the slots that were given to other carriers (not US or DL) had to be carriers with less than a 5% market share and who didn't code-share with anyone who had more than a 5% market share. Doesn't DL have more than a 5% market share at LGA?

I could see Westjet having an interline agreement with DL at LGA, like AA & B6 are planning, but if they're planning on code-sharing with DL, that would seem to eliminate Westjet's eligibility to get those 5 slots at LGA - at least in the proposed US/DL slot swap deal.

If WJ gets those slots, the cost of flights from Toronto to New York will tumble.

I think that's what the DoT wants to have happen in the first place.


:)

but if they're planning on code-sharing with DL, that would seem to eliminate Westjet's eligibility to get those 5 slots at LGA - at least in the proposed US/DL slot swap deal.

Since there is no ATI between WS and DL, a codeshare is irrelevent. As long as the two airlines don't particiapte in and type of price alignment the govt should be ok with WS using the slots. WN was the sacrificial pig in this case.

I think that's what the DoT wants to have happen in the first place.

Exactly. They want competition on the route.

This is typical Westjet incompetence at its finest. I have yet to see this airline make one decision on its future and stick with it. WS seems to have this complex of always changing its mind after the pen hits the paper.

First, they decided they were going to be an LCC with no external partnerships. Then, WS decided it would gradually phase in a new res system over a period of ten years that would develop the carrier into an AS-esque codeshare whore (kind of my take on where they were headed anyways :D). Ended up writing off that decision because WS wanted it all, and wanted it now (ala Veruca Salt) so it went with SABRE. Somewhere in there they ink the deal with WN for codesharing. Recession hits and WN wants to delay, not cancel the agreement. Now we fast forward to the present and WS wants to change its plans again and choose different partners.

Really WS, just make up your mind of what you want to be when you grow up, jeez! :rolleyes:

This is typical Westjet incompetence at its finest. I have yet to see this airline make one decision on its future and stick with it. WS seems to have this complex of always changing its mind after the pen hits the paper.

First, they decided they were going to be an LCC with no external partnerships. Then, WS decided it would gradually phase in a new res system over a period of ten years that would develop the carrier into an AS-esque codeshare whore (kind of my take on where they were headed anyways :D). Ended up writing off that decision because WS wanted it all, and wanted it now (ala Veruca Salt) so it went with SABRE. Somewhere in there they ink the deal with WN for codesharing. Recession hits and WN wants to delay, not cancel the agreement. Now we fast forward to the present and WS wants to change its plans again and choose different partners.

Really WS, just make up your mind of what you want to be when you grow up, jeez! :rolleyes:
Funny how responding to changing markets to maintain a viable and profitable airline can be construed as incompetence? Perhaps other airlines need to learn a bit of this "incompetence"?

Really WS, just make up your mind of what you want to be when you grow up, jeez! :rolleyes:

How many 14 year olds do you know that know what they're going to do when they grow up?

Recession hits and WN wants to delay, not cancel the agreement. Now we fast forward to the present and WS wants to change its plans again and choose different partners.

The WS & WN marriage maid in heaven never got to the wedding day as WN wanted to postpone the nuptuals indefinately but I say ^ to WS for making it known that they weren't prepared to wait for WN forever and courted other suitors. Times change for both people and airlines and doing nothing is usually the worst of all options.

Hmmm.... agreements/codesharing in place with AF/KL and alignment with possible codeshareing with DL.

I am hoping for a real FF program and SkyTeam membership is in the works!