By Gary Watson | June 21, 2013 Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 23 seconds.
On June 20, WestJet Encore, WestJet’s regional subsidiary, formally introduced its first Bombardier Q400 turboprop to the media and company employees with a launch party at its Calgary headquarters. The event was also a means of melding the 120 new Encore employees with the large 9,000+ family of WestJetters.
Included at the event was a group of employees from Bombardier. “I can’t believe this company,” said one of them. “It’s seldom we ever see our actual customers; usually a delivery crew picks up the aircraft and then they disappear. When they arrived to take delivery of the first Q400, they brought an aircraft full of employees and Bombardier, for the first time ever, shut down the plant so all 4,000 staff could participate in a party.”
A surprise visitor to the launch party was federal MP Jason Kenny, who had been informed of the launch party while flying home from Ottawa on WestJet. In a short speech to the large crowd, he said, “You are providing a choice and better fares, rather than just having a one-airline monopoly. Thank you to WestJet and WestJet Encore for giving Canadians a choice.”
Quietly enjoying the event was Clive Beddoe, founding shareholder and chairman of the board. When asked by Canadian Skies if he had ever envisioned an event such as this when he started WestJet 17 years ago, he replied “I thought we might get to 100 aircraft. After that, I had no idea where we would go.”
By the end of 2013, WestJet will have 105 B737s with an additional 30 on order, and will have taken delivery of eight of the 20 Bombardier Q400s ordered for WestJet Encore.
According to Encore president Ferio Pugliese, everything is set for the new regional airline’s maiden flight from Calgary to Nanaimo, B.C., on June 24.
