WR Cage

IMHO Westjet did have a plan. But not because they figured Jetsgo would fold so quickly, Westjet was resigned to the idea that Jetsgo would hang around for the summer (a few Westjet HQ people confided this to me). There was a PR concern at Westjet that the language used in the Q4 and year end conference call was too strong. The media really hyped that Westjet was more aggressively defending its territory and would not let anyone (read Jetsgo) gain a toe hold on their home turf. The PR head shed probably came up with a plan that would deflect criticism away from Westjet's head on attack on Jetsgo. Their fear being that Westjet would be blamed for Jetsgo's demise.

The Westjet 2am release was far too polished to be created that night. This was a plan worked on and vetted weeks earlier. The plan to help Jetsgo passengers was a diversionary tactic to highlight that Westjet was doing something other than uncorking the baby duck (they're too cheap for good champagne).

As for the cheap seats on WS, what wasn't identified in the press release (and Westjet's learning experience) is that Westjet had a special fare class for those former Jetsgo passengers that were stranded. If former Jetsgo passengers were on the return leg of their flight and could prove the point via a print out, then the passenger could get a Westjet ticket at a lower price than on the website and offered to all other passengers. This fare class was only offered via call centre or at the airport (required human intervention by a Westjet employee).

Take a look at the Westjet Q4 conference call in February and compare it to the AC Q4 release two days before Jetsgo's demise. In the Westjet call Clive talked heavily about defending turf and getting aggressive with price. In the ACE investor conference call, Robert talked about letting Westjet and Jetsgo fight amongst themselves and AC would fly above the fight to focus on their own business model.