WestJet Vs Air Canada

This summer I have planned a great 2 week vacation with my family and friends from back home. I’ve traveled with Air Canada my whole life; I know the Air Canada airport like the back of my hand. I think at the end I will stick to Air Canada for my vacation. WestJet’s staff service was tempting and it would be nice to be around a warm environment, but I am not familiar with the airport. All together, I have 6 other members in my family, and I don’t want to take any risks of anyone (my little sister especially) getting lost. Another reason why I’m choosing Air Canada is because of the meals that they offer during the flight. I have read a couple of WestJet’s reviews that have claimed to find raw meat in their sandwiches. Quite honestly, I only have 2 weeks to relax and party, I don’t want to end up getting sick because of the food I have received on the flight. Maybe when I’m traveling alone I might consider Westjet’s airline, since they are receiving enough feedback to right their wrongs. 

Number Analysis

WestJet has a strong fundamental perspective. Currently WestJet’s revenue has grown into double digits, which is impressive considering the recession that occurred in 2009. Unfortunately WestJet is still going through a debt, but because of the outstanding growth in the revenue, that long-term debt shouldn’t be a problem. The dividend growth is at zero because WestJet has just introduced a dividend last quarter that has an annual indication yield of $0.20. Personally I find these the most important ratios concerning me:

Revenue Growth: 14.13%

Gross margin: 9.23%

Net Margin: 4.75%

Debt/Capital: o.43

Customers Review

After reading a couple of reviews online, it seems like a lot of previous customers are pleased with the type of services they received from WestJet.  “Booking a Westjet vacation was easy, staff friendly. Not much price difference between Westjet and Air Canada vacations.”-T Cultan (http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/westjet.htm) From the reviews, customers seems to really value WestJet’s staff services. Customers were satisfied with the meals, entertainment system, staff, and the flight overall. WestJet is now selling meals and snack onboard, you can make your food purchases before your flight, or during. Customers seems to be pleased with this concept since now customers have an option with their meals, while other customers have made complains about the price factor and their sandwiches. WestJet is trying to target Air Canada’s customers (both first time users and loyal consumers) by training/educating their staff with quality services. Will Air Canada improve their staff services?

WestJet Airlines Ltd

WestJet Airlines is the second largest airline in Canada today. WestJet started their airline in Western Canada, and the company has expanded and now has expanded itself into national and international destinations. WestJet is listed in the Toronto Stock Exchange and is a member of Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX composite Index. Oil prices have an impact on WestJet and its prices, however WestJet is benefitting from the upswing in the cyclical travel and transportation industry. Another benefit to WestJet is the major share holders (almost 10 percent of outstanding share) from the non-unionized workforce (8, 000 employees). An interesting fact that I have come across is that WestJet has announced its partnership with Experdia. Other partnership includes; China Airline, Oneworld, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Japan Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Emirates, Virgin America and a couple of more airlines. Westjet is successful for grasping consumers’ attentions and investors’/partnerships’ interest.

Traveling

Air Canada

Traveling can be a magnificent experience or it can be a horrifying one. More or less, does it all depend on which airline you travel from? Personally I have traveled with many different airlines (Emirates, Lufthansa, Delta Airlines, Air Canada, and a couple of more). I’ve traveled with Air Canada almost every year, and I am pleased with the quality of services Air Canada has to offer.

WestJet

I thought it would be interesting to try a different airline this year, perhaps WestJet. If you have traveled with WestJet and you are pleased or disappointed with its services then please let me know.  For now I’ll be researching about WestJet (the company, services, customers’ satisfaction,  etc) and I’ll share my basket of knowledge with you.