Interim competition commissioner Matthew Boswell states in a Dec. 5 motion that he “has reason to believe that the parties have engaged in a conduct that constitutes an abuse of dominant position,” in violation of the Competition Act.
He states that WestJet and Swoop “are engaging in predatory anti-competitive practices, more specifically predatory pricing, by significantly decreasing the prices of their passenger tickets to a level that appears to be below their avoidable costs,” leading to less competition.
The accusation applies to three routes that WestJet and Swoop “substantially or completely control” — Edmonton-Abbotsford, Edmonton-Hamilton and Edmonton-Winnipeg routes — according to the commissioner.