airbus320

There are some very talented people on this site who have good skills at yield management and route analysis.

Hence the question: who will benefit the most from Jetsgo's demise: WS or AC?

parnel

I think we the consumer will lose as WS will no longer have to cut fares as much as they have recently and both they and AC will raise fares. The real LCC has a role to keep prices from going too high and WS is not a LCC any more.

Altaflyer

Yes, consumer will lose, and big time. WS now wants $134 for that $59 ticket to Vancouver I bought last night! Yikes! Its disingenious to blame WS if fares go up, both they and AC will raise fares and both will be to blame. Was $59 a realistic fare? No. Is $134 fair? Definitely not, not as a buy way in advance type fare.

DanJ

I think in the near-term, Westjet is going to benefit more, but only because they have more space to fill on those routes. I think Canjet will do pretty well too.

airbus320

Come on people.

Jetsgo was not a true LCC and its demise was predictable. It was dumping seat inventory into the marketplace creating fares that were hurting WestJet. Those Jetsgo fares were not sustainable and were not financially realistic.

Hence their demise will bring back some rationality to the marketplace and all other players will benefit.

Jetsgo hurt the consumer by creating false expectations as to fares. No one can make money at those unrealictic fares.

It is Darwin all over. Survival of the fittest.

While I feel for the people who are stranded and who will lose money, I am happy that sanity has returned to the marketplace.

Shareholder

In the end, even if s/he doesn't realize it, the Canadian traveler will benefit because there will be a stasis in the industry that will allow it to become healthy, cover real operating costs, and provide a good standard of service and frequency. It may add a few dollars to the cost of a ticket, but think of all those folks who have just lost their $200 great deals!

Yes, prices for the immediate few days will go up because supply is limited at this peak travel period. But once Easter is over, and summer rebooking done, things will get back to a better normalcy. CANJET will get stronger and be a regionally based carrier Atlantic Canadians can fly and champion. WESTJET can get back on course and maintain its original business plan of offering reliable low cost service with reasonable frequency, as the west's hometown favourite. And AC will continue to achieve those high domestic load factors, but maybe even start making money in this sector of its market.

Don't be deluded by low prices. You can't sell a product or service for less than cost and stay in business for the longhaul. This is really the best thing to happen for both sides of the equation, and long overdue. LeBlanc was a spoiler for all serious players. Only fools could love him, and there seemed to be enough of them out there to keep him going...until even he figured it all out!

Again, both ACE and WestJet should get a small bounce this morning when the TSX opens.

BTW, story made it on the G&M's front page of the local Toronto edition of this morning's real "paper". And the STAR ran a red banner headline, along with a story about the fleet being grounded on page two. And in the ROB section, there is a prescient article about JetsGos problems with Transport Canada. It provides a clear reason for the shutdown: No longer being able to fly at heights that burn fuel most economically, and another bump up in the price of fuel itself, likely sealed the fate of this dodo.

parnel

Who are you to determine what's fair pricing? Are you a cost analyst who knows intimately what it costs to fly you from point A to B?

The fact that you are cheap enters into the equation not the fairness of it all.

airbus320

I think the TSX will give WS stock a bigger bounce.

YOWkid

I agree -- good news for CanJet, and bad news for us in the interim.

Q Shoe Guy

I wonder if Westjet will now get it's house in order?

Canjet should stick to it's knitting in the east and along the eastern seaboard of the USA.

I guess Westjet will be moving back to Terminal 3 again at Pearson , leaving all those new gates in T1 for AC. ^

Fares should really firm for them all on the major trunk routes, does anyone else smell a nice profit throughout the year?

Shareholder

Will this latest oil price shock finally close the doors on USAir, and permit the US industry to finally sort itself out? This is about the only way the UA/US hegemony will be retionalized. And can a merge of DL and CO, or DL and NW be far away? Once this goes down, some logic will return to that marketplace and the NAmerican continent overall.

Ken hAAmer

People looking to JetsGo were probably looking in the opposite direction of Air Canada. I suspect that instead of turning 180° they'll only turn 45° and look towards WestJet. Some might look to CanJet, but I don't think they have the routes and frequency that will attract more to WestJet.

In short, WestJet is the big winner.

Q Shoe Guy

People booking Jetsgo were only chasing the low prices. I don't think any of the remaining airlines will be offering "Jetsgo" pricing on any route. The consumers you talk about will purchase the cheapest seat they can find , be it AC , WJA , or Bearskin. I think it will help these remaining airlines equally that Jetsgo is gone by firming up the prices to a rational(hopefully profitable) level.

djjaguar64

That's so sad that Jetsgo has left the Hangar's. Now Westjet will they be headin west soon too?

taupo

I have a slightly different take on this. The customer may more for domestic air travel, but it will be closer to a realistic price.
By realistic price, I mean a price that reflects the true cost and yields the shareholders a reasonable return based on their enormous capital and the inherent financial risks of operating an airline.