Company Watch - WestJet Airlines

AirGuide Business, Jan 21, 2008

Jan 21, 2008

Canada's airline industry looks set to finally join the downturn in the United States, an analyst said on Friday as he cut his outlook on the country's major carriers, Air Canada and WestJet Airlines. Of the two, Air Canada, with its higher cost structure, will be particularly hard hit by lofty fuel prices and a slowing economy, Raymond James analyst Ben Cherniavsky wrote in a report projecting a tough 2008 for the sector. He predicted a return to red ink for Canada's biggest carrier this year. Cherniavsky also downgraded WestJet to account for higher crude oil price assumptions. Both carriers benefited in 2007 from a strong domestic market and high demand for travel, which yielded strong load factors as both increased their capacities. Jan 18, 2008

WestJet might be even better on the service front. The numbers are astonishingly good. Of the millions of people who boarded its planes in 2006, guess how many filed complaints with the Canada Transportation Agency? Exactly 70. The CTA did more investigations into beefs about British Airways than WestJet. Like Churchill's famous axiom about democracy, Canada's system of air travel is the worst, except for everyone else's. So what's to fear from a little more competition? If you believe the airlines, plenty. Jan 18, 2008

WestJet Airlines sank 55 Canadian cents, or 3 percent, to CAD$17.50. That represents an increase of more than 18 percent in the past year. Jan 18, 2008

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