cooleddie

Mind blown.

What will AC do to react?

Just look at the details. The WestJet business class product is almost identical to Air Canada's. And now, Air Canada's economy class is almost identical to WestJet's (a la 737 MAX 8)

I haven't been happy with AC lately with Aeroplan dropping out and all the enhancements. All WestJet needs to do is to join SkyTeam and AC will have a very tough competitor.

See https://787.westjet.com/ for WestJet's 787 website.
For reference, you can compare it to AC at https://787.aircanada.com

CanadianMike

While it looks great in the release, they only have 10 aircraft (+ the option for 10 more).

So while it is a direct competitor, how many routes they can actually compete on is limited.

I also think there will be growing pains rolling out not only the new aircraft but a new hard + soft product and class of service which they've never had before.
But it is exciting nonetheless.

cooleddie

It is very exciting to see a real competitor in the area... and most importantly... OPTIONS....

expert7700

exciting. never flown westjet but definitely will try their 787 pods

If Aeroplan announces Westjet as a redemption partner starting in 2020, it may be worth leaving an Aeropeso balance unredeemed!

lcohen999

Of course they do/will

Mostly on price. I remember YYZ-LGA flights (for example) before WestJet . Even YYZ-ORD forced you into an M fare less than 7 days out. Would it be nice to see some J prices get 'regulated' over the pacific, 100% yes.

Look at the AC J thread to Australia as a great example.

cooleddie

I totally expect AC prices to come down!

The density is higher on WestJet's 787-9s, which puts WestJet at an advantage. It looks like they split the front cabin into J and PY; whereas AC dedicates the entire front cabin to J.

jerryhung

I could care less about WestJet now after I sold at loss after their -10% ugly ER

AC, despite being down UNFAIRLY after a good ER ($26 -> $23.xx) , is doing better, and should benefit from WJA's woes

BenSenise

and growing pains for their website which claims that the dreamliner has "Lower cabin pressure which makes for a more comfortable flight." I find it amazing that errors like this make it through to the public.

Transpacificflyer

Outside of an initial predatory attack intended to cause West Jet to bleed, I do not expect AC fares to decrease. On the Asian routes China Eastern and Air China easily undercut the AC fares, and yet no impact.

However ,where I can see an impact is if SkyMile partner airlines let West Jet code share on its 787 routes. That would really help on the LGW flights and allow for expansion to Europe. It will certainly be exciting.

KenHamer

So I guess now we know why Air Canada introduced mattress pads, even if it's up to the passenger to place them.

I guess I can just add this to the voluminous list of things that WestJet will NEVER do. But I suppose it's an improvement that people are no longer claiming WS will go out of business any day now.

Given my recent AC vs WS experience I fully expect the WS experience will be equal to or better than AC. And for some portion of AC J flyers will have a whole new option.

KenHamer

"Growing pains"?


Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... have you followed Air Canada's website "Growing pains"?

nave888

I already do about 50% of my domestic travel on Westjet - they lead in many western Canadian markets, and AC just can't compete with their frequencies. They also seem to handle winter delays on the YEG-YYC route significantly better than AC, so all my winter YEG-YYC runs are now on Westjet.

For me to move over to Westjet entirely, I need them to join an alliance, and have some sort of lounge access policy. If they joined Skyteam and offered lounge access at larger airports (as they do for a fee now), I'd fly them exclusively. For years, my big issue was a lack of J, but even within Canada, AC has made upgrading a pain, so this is basically a non issue for me today. AC's just made booking so incredibly complex. Last Thursday, I spent nearly an hour on the phone explaining the 3 different flex fare categories, not to mention the various standard and comfort fares, to my corporate TA. All this, just for the pleasure of spending 16 credits to upgrade a domestic roundtrip flight.

Heck, I'd be more loyal if I could get preferred seats when I use aeroplan points or fly standard fares on holiday with my family. Meanwhile, carriers like UA offer all elites Y+ on all fares. Little things like this would go a long way....

If Westjet joins Skyteam and Gold becomes Elite Plus, AC will be in serious trouble.

RangerNS

If its low enough, you really wouldn't care about anything else.

Jebby_ca

Westjet is going to offer a turn down service, based on their website. Does that mean Westjet will put the mattress pad on for you?

KenHamer

Seems like it.

I imagine AC will soon launch *their* new turn down service with a world wide press conference and Celine Dion.