Sunwing Airlines and Swoop are getting axed by WestJet, and while many experts are waving a red flag in alarm, Saskatchewan airports are optimistic.
James Bogusz, president and CEO of the Regina Airport Authority said he was hopeful these changes won’t lead to a repeat of the 2022 winter season where Sunwing ended up cancelling many of their flights in Saskatchewan.
He said he expects WestJet flights to stay competitive in the Prairies due to the high capacity they’ll have from the mergers.
“We have not seen the types of deep discounts this summer since really when the pandemic began,” Bogusz said.
Bogusz expects the same complement of flights for the winter season that Sunwing offered last year, plus some additional flights offered by WestJet.
He said WestJet will be watching to see if markets use non-stop flights.
“I know it was a tough go last winter, but we’re hopeful that the public will remember that these airlines want to be here, and we hope the service is used heavily.”
CJ Dushinski, vice president of business development and service quality with SkYXE in Saskatoon echoed many of Bogusz’s sentiments.
She said this news wasn’t a surprise, noting she doesn’t expect a drastic impact on operations at the Saskatoon Airport.
“We expect to still keep our same complement of routes and destinations,” Dushinski said.
She said she doesn’t expect to see a big price difference either, adding she hopes that it will stay competitive.
Air Canada backed out of Saskatchewan early in 2023, which caused some concerns about air travel in the Prairies.
Back in February, the Sask Party government announced that it would subsidize flights for a WestJet route to Minneapolis, calling it an insurance policy.
This move was met with some concern, and Jason Childs, associate professor of economics with the University of Regina, said it meant the provincial government was taking on the risk for the route, and that governments shouldn’t be taking on risks for private businesses.
Dushinski said the first trips to and from Minneapolis took flight on Monday for people to connect to the U.S., and it was beneficial for business travelers.
“The feedback so far has been really positive. The flights yesterday were really full.”
WestJet’s deal to acquire Sunwing was approved by Ottawa in March and formally closed in May.
Many experts that spoke with Global News foresaw some problems with the deal.
“The main issue is probably going to be that there will be fewer options, obviously fewer flights on fewer brands and probably a higher price,” said Frederic Dimanche, a tourism and hospitality professor with Toronto Metropolitan University.
Duncan Dee, former chief operating officer at Air Canada, says that it’s more expensive to run multiple airlines at the same time, and there may be benefits to passengers from breaking down walls between WestJet, Sunwing and Swoop.
“These are operational decisions that make it much easier for WestJet to serve the customers that it has,” Dee said.
Ottawa’s approval of the Sunwing acquisition went against recommendations from the Competition Bureau, which predicted in a letter to Transport Minister Omar Alghabra last fall that rubber-stamping the deal would lead to higher prices for consumers.
“The Competition Bureau forewarned it was going to result in worse service and higher prices. I very much agree,” said Gabor Lukacs, president of the Air Passenger Rights consumer advocacy group.
When the Sunwing acquisition was approved, it came alongside a series of conditions that WestJet would have to honour. In addition to expanding Sunwing vacation packages to five new Canadian cities, Ottawa expected WestJet to maintain capacity on routes most affected by the merger.
“Any violation of these terms and conditions would be a violation of the merger agreement,” said Nadine Ramadan, press secretary for Alghabra.
The Competition Bureau said in October that WestJet and Sunwing comprise 37 per cent of seat capacity on direct flights to sun destinations and 72 per cent from Western Canada.
— with files from Global News’s Sean O’Shea, Craig Lord and The Canadian Press
Comments