WestJet’s popularity in the Caribbean soars along with its success
CANADA’S low-cost high value airline WestJet, which has been popular from its inception, recently expanded its presence in the Caribbean with the introduction of seasonal service to Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda.

The Calgary-based airline is now flying to sixteen Caribbean destinations, half of the membership of the Caribbean Tourism OrganiSation (CTO) and its entry into new Caribbean markets has been welcomed by Canadian and Caribbean travel agents and passengers.
WestJet’s business model, award-winning corporate culture, exceptional customer service and healthy financial performance are some of the main ingredients of its success.
The airline has reported a profit for fifteen of its sixteen years of operations and its President and CEO Gregg Saretsky was recently named ‘Business Person of the Year’ by Alberta’s Venture Magazine.
Westjet, whose crew is often humorous, considers all its “guests” first class. The airline provides plush leather seats, great leg room and individual seat back television service for all of its passengers with a wide selection of up-to-date movies. The airline flies to over 80 destinations in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Saretsky told me in a recent conversation that Trinidadians are “delighted” to have another choice of a daily flight to Port of Spain. Caribbean travel agents in Toronto I spoke to concur.
Although passengers on WestJet, as with all its other flights, pay for a second piece of luggage ($20) and for headphones, because the airline’s fares are so competitive and its reputation for outstanding service well known, the bookings to Trinidad and Tobago have been very encouraging.
WestJet has added another 7,000 seats during the current winter season to Antigua and Barbuda. Saretksy noted that since the airline’s entry into that market, fares to that destination have been lowered.
WestJet is also a “significant partner” for Barbados, operating five times a week with year-round, direct service to the island from Toronto.
WestJet has increased overall air seat capacity to Barbados from Canada by about 20 percent since commencing operations in November 2008. The airline has contributed to the overall visitor arrivals to Barbados which grew by 26 percent, – from 57,398 in 2008 to 72,107 at the end of 2011.
“WestJet is expected to continue playing a key role (along with Air Canada and Air Transat) in driving business to Barbados from Canada. Given the growth we have seen from this market in the past few years, we believe our relationship with these Canadian carriers will allow us to achieve our objective of attracting 100,000 visitors from Canada, in the short to medium term,” Senior Business Development Manager at the Barbados Tourism Authority’s Toronto Office, Cheryl Carter, told me.
WestJet’s service to the Caribbean began in 2006 when it flew to The Bahamas. The airline is considered a “big partner”, delivering half of the island’s tourism arrivals from Canada, providing year-round service to Nassau and seasonal service to Freeport.
“WestJet is innovative with pricing as well as scheduling,” Ambrose Morris, Communications Manager of the Bahamas Tourist Office in Toronto said in an invited comment.
The slogan in the airline’s advertisements “Owner’s Care” is not a marketing ploy.  Eighty-five percent of WestJet employees participate in the Employee Share Purchase plan.
The flight crew, including the pilots, clean the aircraft after a flight.  “We pitch in because we know it makes a difference to our profits if we do it ourselves,” a WestJet flight attendant told me during my recent flight from Orlando to Toronto. It saves the airline 12 million dollars a year.
“We stand behind a commitment to take care of our people. In turn, our people take care of our guests. And it is our guests, who continue to choose WestJet, that take care of our business” is how the airline describes its “Business Model with Heart”.
Saretsky says the outstanding customer care its flightcrew provides is not all due to WestJet’s training. Applicants are thoroughly screened for attitude and customer service traits.
The company is looking to hire between 1200 to 1500 new employees shortly and has received 100,000 applications. “It’s tougher to get hired by Westjet than to get into Harvard Business School,” Saretsky commented.
In a bold new move the airline has announced the launch of WestJet Encore, which will use Q400 NextGen aircraft to serve smaller communities domestically.This will leave WestJet’s single fleet type, the Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, to provide additional flying on longer routes.
Because of its inclusive culture, when the airline was considering launching its new regional domestic service, all of its nearly 9,000 employees voted, with 91 per cent giving the green light for the new venture.
The airline also has its sights on service to Tobago and has already had preliminary discussions with Trinidadian Transport Minister Chandresh Sharma.
Saretsky also told me that WestJet has Guyanese pilots and is aware of the large Guyanese community in Ontario, so adding Guyana to its Caribbean destinations is definitely on its “radar”.
WestJet charitable work includes WestJetters building houses in The Dominican Republic, contributing to Haiti’s hurricane relief and reconstruction programmes and supporting a marathon in The Bahamas that is linked to a cure for breast cancer.
After claiming the top spot four years in a row, WestJet was recently inducted into Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures Hall of Fame by Waterstone Human Capital,  a leading executive recruitment and consulting group that recognizes Canadian companies for having a culture that helps them to achieve a great financial performance and competitive advantage.
The airline’s success can be attributed to its main pillars of fostering the growth, development and commitment of its team, consistently providing an amazing guest experience and achieving a targeted, sustainable profit margin that will be number one among North American airlines. It’s a formula that other airlines that serve the Caribbean should note.
(Sandra Ann Baptiste is a Business Consultant and Specialist in Caribbean Affairs).