WestJet offering $99 introductory fare
The price war has already started, following WestJet's announcement this morning that it will be offering a new Whitehorse-Vancouver route beginning in May.
The price war has already started, following WestJet's announcement this morning that it will be offering a new Whitehorse-Vancouver route beginning in May.
WestJet announced its two-week introductory discount fare of $99 one way, plus taxes and fees.
Air North responded shortly afterwards by posting notice on its website that it will be matching the WestJet discount fee beginning May 17, the same day WestJet begins flying the new route.
Air North president Joe Sparling was in the air and unavailable for comment on this morning's announcement.
The local airline, however, adopted a policy in 2004 stating it will do whatever it can to match the lowest available fares offered by competitors.
WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said daily flights on the Boeing 737s will depart from Whitehorse at 8:30 a.m. and arrive in Vancouver at 10:46. The evening flight from Vancouver to Whitehorse will depart at 6:40 and arrive at 9:02.
"We have done our homework and we think there is a market and now it is up to Yukoners to help us decide what is the appropriate level of service,” Palmer said. "Right now we are starting a daily service because we think there is a market for it.”
Palmer said WestJet has not said whether its service will be seasonal or year-round. The market, he suggested, will largely determine the company's future here.
Having a local WestJet service provides Yukoners with the opportunity to take advantage of the airline's national and international flight schedules, he pointed out.
The company also indicated this morning it will be offering hotel packages from Whitehorse to all of its destinations where the company offers vacation deals.
Palmer said the introductory discount fare doesn't apply to all 136 seats available, but will be reserved for a certain portion, as is normal pricing practice for the industry.
What the regular cost per seat will be won't be known until later today when loading the full pricing package on the company's website is complete, he said.
The regular one-day fee for Air North today is $205, plus taxes and airport fees.
The WestJet website says the $99 offer runs from May 17 to Aug. 29 for seats booked by Feb. 14.
Palmer said with taxes and airport fees, the total cost introductory seat sale for a southbound WestJet flight will be $131 and $145 for a northbound flight.
What sort of employment opportunities the company might be offering is also unclear at this time, he said.
Air North employs a total of 282 full- and part-time staff: 209 in Whitehorse; 65 in Vancouver; two in Dawson City; two in Old Crow; two in Inuvik; one in Edmonton; and one in Calgary.
Yukon's airline currently flys to Vancouver twice a day, seven days a week and to Edmonton and Calgary once a day on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Whitehorse airport spokesman John Rogers said today airport staff have not heard back from WestJet since its representatives were here looking things over in early January.
There is enough room for a third commercial carrier at the existing front counter, he said.
Rogers said the airport had already hired a local company to audit the use of its existing interior space before WestJet showed up earlier this month.
Similarly, the purchase of a second loading bridge was also already in the works, he pointed out.
Rogers said he doesn't think the arrival of WestJet will require increasing staffing at the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.
Security manager Paranjit Grewal, with G4S Security Solutions (Canada), said today from what he knows of the additional flight schedule, it's not likely his company will need to hire more staff for pre-boarding security services.
Comments (12)
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mark on Feb 1, 2012 at 11:55 am
Fantastic & friendly customer service, clean planes, friendly faces. No worries joe my business will keep our account with air north
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bill williams on Feb 1, 2012 at 5:50 am
I will continue to fly air north as i am a shareholder and a loyal customer.We have seen some of these fly by night carriers (Royal,canada 3000)come and go.I can proudly say i have never taken an air canada flight south and hopefully never have to.Air north is a northern owned company and employ's many local people,can you say Westjet will employ more than a couple of locals?good luck Joe and company you have a large and loyal customer base.
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Jack Malone on Feb 1, 2012 at 4:30 am
@nancyd: congratulations for dumbest post of the year. "at least [Air Canada sticks] to their guidelines" Yes, great guidelines. You cannot travel with your dog. You cannot bring any sports equipment as a team - much less ask for a team discount for minor hockey, soccer, etc. No bulk travel passes for Whitehorse travellers (like Air North's 30 one-way passes to Vancouver for $8K). You cannot bring any carry on on a Air Canada flight - since there is no room whatsoever on their small planes. Of course, this assumes that the Air Canada flight can land in Whitehorse during the cold weather.
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Jack Malone on Jan 31, 2012 at 12:51 pm
@nancyd: I fly Air North a few times each month. Your comment is baseless. It is too noisy on the Air North flights? I bet that your life is a lot fun. In any event, if people fly West Jet - you will threaten cheap and daily flights to Vancouver on Air North. Like Yellowknife, I expect that West Jet will fly in the peak summer seasons in order to get the profitable gravy. During the winter, we'll be complaining about irregular and costly flights with a broke Air North or an opportunistic Air Canada. We need to be loyal to Air North. I do not work at Air North and I am not a shareholder.
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Northone on Jan 31, 2012 at 10:52 am
It's good to see more competition in the air travel sector, it can only benefit Yukoners. That said, as long as Air North keeps their prices competitive, I'll be sticking with them for Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary flights. They have provided excellent service and employ many Yukoners. I'll likely choose WestJet for connections to other places in Canada.
On the other hand, I never fly with Air Canada unless I have no other choice, they have provided consistently lousy service and have been unapologetic about lost baggage and late or cancelled flights - what other airline would put planes on the Whitehorse run that can't land in cold weather... Ridiculous.
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Kim Hudson and Ivan Jacobsen on Jan 31, 2012 at 10:41 am
While competition is always a good thing, we'll stay with Air North. Friendly flight attendants and counter staff, good food, flights always on time (or often early), fun-filled weekend charters south, and Captain Joe's super-smooth landings, have had us sold on Air North for years. Keep up the great work, Joe!
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Yukon and On on Jan 31, 2012 at 8:40 am
It is clear to me that Westjet has studied the market and knows that in order to get a foot hold here, they had to severely undercut Air North's prices. Air North has worked very hard to earn an exceptionally loyal customer base. They could have focused more on profits after establishing themselves, but they have barely raised their fares and the quality of service remains second to none. Air North also invests so much back into the Yukon community. Westjet must know that it would take providing introductory fares at a profit loss in order to get us to come to the dark side.
I sincerely hope that if one of the airlines has to go, it will be Air Canada and that Westjet and Air North will be able to profitably share the remaining market.
As a lifetime Yukoner and one who remembers when Air Canada's practice of local price gouging made flying Outside something only the more affluent people in the Yukon could afford to do, I will continue to fly with Air North, even if it costs a bit more to do so. I see the benefit in staying loyal to and supporting our local airline as they been loyal and fair to us.
For those of us who will be here for years to come, it is in our best interest to continue to support Air North.
I do not work for nor do I have any affiliation with Air North other than as a happy customer!
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Linda Balcaen on Jan 31, 2012 at 8:14 am
I am very happy to see Westjet come to Whitehorse. If it wasn't for Air North I would never fly out of here. I do not like, nor can I afford, to fly Air Canada. Westjet will be great!
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nancyd on Jan 31, 2012 at 3:49 am
It's good that there will be another carrier for Yukoners. Maybe this one won't be such a circus when you get on board. No offense Air North, but there's too much chaos on your flights. It's so noisy & you're too lenient with certain things & people. People are critical of Air Canada but at least they stick to their guidelines.
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jack P on Jan 30, 2012 at 7:11 pm
I wonder how long they'll stick around? Personally, I don't like the Westjet product, prefer AC or alternative. I hope people will continue to support Air North.
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Paul Harach on Jan 30, 2012 at 1:06 pm
So let's do some quick math comparing prices and flight times readily available on the internet; Edmonton to Yellowknife on Westjet versus Edmonton to Whitehorse on Air North. Simple math tells us that the cheap fares won't last. On a two week advance fare Westjet will charge you about $2.53 per minute for the estimated flight time from Edmonton to Yellowknife (the trip is about 45 minutes shorter than the trip to Whitehorse). On a two week advance fare Air North will charge you about $1.75 per minute for the estimated flight time from Edmonton to Whitehorse (the price goes down if you are travelling Air North to Calgary). I took the cheapest return airfares that I could find on the Westjet website, versus that average non-seat sale Air North fare between now and the end of March. Air North gives excellent value for the money, the base airfare has only increased $10 since they started flying the Southern flight segments (there have been fuel surcharges added and removed during this time).
For all of you "outsiders” who have moved up here in the last ten years and just Love Air Canada, I would like to remind you that in 1998 a full fare ticket to Vancouver cost about $1800 on Canadian Airlines International. In fact a $900 return ticket was average and a $750 ticket was considered a seat sale and a great deal (Air Canada assumed this route and the high ticket prices in 2000 with the takeover of Canadian Airlines). When Air North entered this market NOBODY expected them to survive and we DEFINITLEY did not expect the $195 airfare to last longer than the first few months. I am proud of Air North and the people that are employed there. They have nothing to worry about because Westjet will soon raise their prices. I believe that Westjet will have a hard time matching Air North's extremely low cost and efficiency; the only airlines that will suffer from this expansion will be Jazz and Air Canada. I can see myself using Westjet for flights to Toronto and beyond.
The intro flight on Westjet ($260 round trip to Vancouver), is well below cost; so book it while you can. I know that Joe has matched these below cost prices but I would rather see a large airline like Westjet take this loss. I am not an Air North Employee or Shareholder (I wish I was).
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lusa on Jan 30, 2012 at 10:27 am
If air north lowers prices to match westjet.. I will continue to fly with them. Fantastic northern service and fantastic friendly customer service