WestJet: Hidden within Onex — February 2026
WestJet, one of David Neeleman’s airlines, was seen in the 2000s as the dynamic newcomer challenging staid Air Canada. It is based at Calgary, the largest city in Alberta where the economy is driven the hydrocarbons industry and whose citizens, uniquely among Canada’s provinces, do show some support for the 51st State concept.
WestJet went through a transition from a pure LCC to a hybrid, expanding internationally with 787s and 737MAXs, and setting up a ULCC subsidiary (Swoop, which was reintegrated into the mainline carrier in 2023). The transition process eroded WestJet’s profitability, and the unit cost gap between WestJet and Air Canada almost disappeared.
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