Swoop takes off

Swoop president and CEO Steven Greenway paused briefly at the podium at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport on Tuesday, gathered himself, and made a joke.

His approach had been met with cheering and enthusiastic applause, much of it likely from the team of eager “Swoopsters” on hand to launch WestJet’s new ultra-low-cost airline.

“I’m actually standing here in a bit of shock,” said Greenway, dressed in blue jeans, a black jacket and a bright pink Swoop t-shirt that echoed the airline’s pink-and-white logo and livery.

“I didn’t expect this,” he said. “I feel like a bit of a rock star, but I can’t sing.”

His casual approach, sprinkled with self-effacing humour, was in keeping with the tone of the day, and with the preliminary branding of an airline that hopes to shake up Canadian travel.

“The mission statement for Swoop is to make air travel easy, accessible and affordable,” said Greenway. “We believe that we’re at the start of a tipping point here.

“Just as WestJet, 22 years ago, revolutionized air travel in Canada, we too believe it is our time–it is Swoop’s time–to revolutionize travel in Canada.”

FRIENDLY, AFFORDABLE AND FUN

Swoop is the kind of airline that will add a hashtag to the official name of its first aircraft–literally, #Hamilton–while giving a nod to the Ontario city where it is initially based.

It is the kind of company that jokes in promotional material that passengers must be a certain height to fly, then admits it was a ruse.

“Extra tall, super short, or statistically average–we LOVE you all! #FlySwoop,” read a banner in the passenger terminal at the Swoop’s media launch on June 19.

Fun, inclusive, social media-savvy and affordable–that’s the Swoop brand, in a nutshell.

And starting with its inaugural flight from Hamilton to Abbotsford, B.C., at 5:45 a.m. on June 20, it may be a solid indicator of the demand for ultra-low-cost air travel in Canada.

“I think there’s a huge appetite,” said Greenway in an interview with Skies.

“When I go around this countryside, I hear things from potential customers and people at the bars and whatever the case may be, saying: ‘I wish I could travel more.’

MARKET POTENTIAL

Swoop’s target market is people who might fly instead of driving a car or catching the bus. It’s people who can only afford one flight a year but who can now afford two or three. It’s Canadians who cross the border to fly out of the United States.

“I think just those three markets alone is a huge opportunity for us,” said Greenway.

“And then there’s just natural stimulation in the market, in terms of just stimulating new travel patterns, new destinations, and people going for–as an example, long weekends.

“Where it was prohibitive before, they can now go with their mates to Vegas for the long weekend for three days, and it’s cost-effective.”

OTHER PLAYERS

Swoop bills itself as the first Canadian ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) in a market that could soon have many.

NewLeaf Travel Co., a low-cost option that launched in 2016, was technically a ticket reseller and not an airline.

Flair Airlines, which acquired NewLeaf in 2017, said this year it is adapting the ULCC model to Canada, but had previously backed away from the ULCC label.

Other potential players include Canada Jetlines, which cancelled plans to launch in June 2018 but said it expects delivery of two leased Airbus A320 aircraft in the first half of next year; and FlyToo, an initiative of Calgary-based Enerjet that has not announced a launch date.

With one-way base fares as low as $49 and add-on fees for carry-on luggage and checked bags, Swoop is piloting a model other contenders are eager to employ.

“We are shamelessly unbundled,” said Greenway. “That is, that you purchase a seat and then you create the travel experience around you.

“And we think that through this, Canadians will actually get used to the experience very quickly.

“It happens everywhere else in the world; Canada’s a bit behind in terms of what we’re seeing in the rest of the world.”

STARTING A REVOLUTION

Swoop has just two Boeing 737-800 aircraft as of its launch date, both of which will be based at the Hamilton airport.

The airline plans to have six aircraft by the end of 2018 and 10 by the middle of 2019, said Greenway.

All will be Boeing 737-800s and all are from the WestJet fleet, with an average age of two and a half years, he said.

Swoop aircraft are configured for 189 passengers and seat pitch varies from 33 inches at the bulkheads down to 29 inches.

Initial destinations include Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Abbotsford, but Swoop’s winter schedule will “hopefully include some international destinations,” said Greenway.

“This is the start of what I think is a travel revolution … to get Canadians flying more, to see their beautiful country,” he said.

“But also to go overseas and explore the world in a more economical way.

PILOTS

The question of who will fly Swoop aircraft was a sticking point in contract negotiations between WestJet and the union representing its pilots, but a decision appears close.

An interim arbitration indicates WestJet pilots are allowed to fly Swoop aircraft, said Greenway. They will be paid a competitive wage, but less than the wage given to WestJet pilots, he said.

“It is less, but the flying is different,” he added. “So for us it’s out and back, which is very attractive.

“It’s a lifestyle choice for a lot of pilots, that those who want to leave for work in the morning and come back in the afternoon, rather than being punted around the countryside … in terms of five or six-day slips.

“It’s a different lifestyle, and that needs to be balanced out with the paying conditions that we offer.”

SECONDARY AIRPORTS

Like other ULCCs, Swoop is targeting secondary airports rather than larger centres, an arrangement that could be a boon for smaller markets.

John C. Munro airport in Hamilton is hoping ULCCs will contribute to furthering the momentum that made it Canada’s fastest-growing airport in 2017.

“To the customers and the passengers that have waited so long for this in Hamilton, we want to thank you for that support,” said Cathie Puckering, CEO of the Hamilton airport, in a speech at the Swoop launch.

“You will provide to the passengers opportunities and choice, not only to Hamilton but expanding into the GTA, Niagara, and again, across the border.

“Let’s bring those four to five million people home.”

Swoop plans to announce the location of its second Canadian base in the next couple of weeks, and while Greenway offered few details, he said the airline will stimulate the economy in that market.

In a few months, when Swoop has four aircraft based in Hamilton, its employees in that city will number just short of 200, said Greenway.

“That doesn’t include ground handlers, it doesn’t include all the support staff–the staff here at Hamilton airport–either,” he added.

“So just with four aircraft, you can see the economic impact that we will have on the Hamilton region.”

READY TO GROW

Near the end of his remarks at Tuesday’s launch, Greenway paraphrased the title of a protest song by the Australian group Paul Kelly & The Messengers.

“Of little things, big things grow,” said Greenway, who is also Australian.

“Today, Swoop only has two aircraft. We are small; compared to our competitors, we are very small.

“But I’d like to think that when you reflect back in five years’ time, 10 years’ time–perhaps not even that long–you reflect back and you reflect back to the fact that Swoop was only two aircraft.

“And who knows what we’ll be in a couple of years’ time and how many million people we have carried safely across this country, and also overseas?

“But we need to start somewhere, and today is where we’re going to start.”