Westjet cuts in BC.

[altiplano]

"Airplanes that are next to empty"

WestJet cuts in B.C.

Abbotsford

WestJet is reducing service from Abbotsford to Edmonton by 7 flights a week, starting March 5.

Nanaimo

WestJet will cancel daily service from Nanaimo to Edmonton on March 5.

Penticton

WestJet will cut more than half the flights from Penticton to Calgary as of February 15, 2016. Twice daily flights will be offered only three days a week, instead of every day.

Prince George

WestJet will cancel daily service between Prince George and Calgary and cut one daily flight to Vancouver,effective March 5, 2016.

Terrace

WestJet will cancel daily service from Terrace to Calgary as of March 5, 2016.

Kamloops

WestJet will cancel daily service from Kamloops to Edmonton as of March 5, 2016.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3419556

[fish4life]

It's cutting its flights out of Alberta various locations, the headline is deceiving.

[longjon]

My guess is that those missing px were working in the AB oil and gas industry.

[godsrcrazy]

With almost all fights going to Edm i think there is no doubt this is about the Oil sands slow down.

I see they have announced some new routes into the states. Not sure with the dollar being so low now is a great time to do that. I know a few people that go yearly south of the border that are not going this year due to a low dollar. Te dollar must be effecting their passenger load to Holiday destinations a most deal in USD funds.

[fish4life]

The US flights might be with the goal of brining Americans up to Canada.

[Airbrake]

The US flights might be with the goal of brining Americans up to Canada.

Many code shares are helping with this, you are correct.

[co-joe]

The title of the news article almost slants towards bashing WS for having the audacity to cut less profitable routes.

I say, go get some of those 1.3 times and rising greenbacks and bring em this way.

[godsrcrazy]

The US flights might be with the goal of brining Americans up to Canada.

Not sure the lower dollar will bring them in over the next 3 months of winter.

[PositiveRate27]

Are these mostly Encore routes?

[fish4life]

The US flights might be with the goal of brining Americans up to Canada.

Not sure the lower dollar will bring them in over the next 3 months of winter.

Maybe not but it's probably better than empty planes out west.

I'm curious to see if WJ and AC through code shares / Star Alliance start taking over the Canada - US runs that are currently being done with the US regionals as a bit of a solution to free up American Aircraft for domestic runs down there due to the "pilot shortage".

[plhought]

Maybe CMA can re-instate it's Calgary-Prince George-Terrace service now. Then one doesn't have to connect through bloody FORT ST JOHN!!

mmm...Banana bread....

[ThatArmyGuy]

Are these mostly Encore routes?

The exact same thing popped into my head too.

[plhought]

The morning flight out of YXX to YEG is Encore - I'd bet it's the one they are cutting.

All the rest are Encore flights as well.

[PositiveRate27]

Are these cuts going to affect blocking averages at Encore?

[ScudRunner]

I wonder if this was Air Canada how many mayors would be screaming to hold a royal commission crying foul.

[Longtimer]

I wonder if there were any staff cuts at WestJet because of the cancellations?

[KK7]

Some routes being removed are WJ, some are WJE. Not much effect on staff levels as the tails are moving to the east and still operating. Encore should expect more triangle and east coast routes to release some of the jets to fly south. It will likely mean more DHs across the country for those based out west, and upgrades in the east. As far as I know, we're still taking on 9 new tails in 2016 at Encore, so I don't think there is too much worry.

[whiteguy]

I wonder if this was Air Canada how many mayors would be screaming to hold a royal commission crying foul.

A lot of these same routes were quietly cut before Xmas....

[altiplano]

I wonder if this was Air Canada how many mayors would be screaming to hold a royal commission crying foul.

A lot of these same routes were quietly cut before Xmas....

Which ones? I don't think any of the above are/were AC routes.

On a related note... Westjet stocks getting hit as profits miss...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e28505708/

The amount of capacity growth that WestJet is forecasting could be difficult to achieve at a profitable level, Murray said.

The company’s net earnings plunged 30 per cent to $63.4-million, or 51 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with the average analyst estimate of 63 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

WestJet incurred a pre-tax foreign exchange loss of $10.1-million in the quarter.

Revenue fell 3.6 per cent to $958.7-million, while operating margins fell to 11.8 per cent from 14 per cent.

[brooks]

There still seems to be plenty of cash lying around. The company says it will increase its 2015-16 share buyback program to six million shares, up 50 per cent from the previous limit of four million shares. There must be a lot of money sitting around to make that decision, and it benefits the share holders.

[whiteguy]

I wonder if this was Air Canada how many mayors would be screaming to hold a royal commission crying foul.

A lot of these same routes were quietly cut before Xmas....

Which ones? I don't think any of the above are/were AC routes.

On a related note... Westjet stocks getting hit as profits miss...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e28505708/

The amount of capacity growth that WestJet is forecasting could be difficult to achieve at a profitable level, Murray said.

The company’s net earnings plunged 30 per cent to $63.4-million, or 51 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with the average analyst estimate of 63 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

WestJet incurred a pre-tax foreign exchange loss of $10.1-million in the quarter.

Revenue fell 3.6 per cent to $958.7-million, while operating margins fell to 11.8 per cent from 14 per cent.

YYC to YXT for one, I thought they started YXS also but looking again maybe not. There have been other cuts but not sure the specific routes.

[Shiny Side Up]

The US flights might be with the goal of brining Americans up to Canada.

Not sure the lower dollar will bring them in over the next 3 months of winter.

The lower dollar is currently a boon to the ski resorts up here, supposedly its been one of the busiest years on the slopes.

[watermeth]

There still seems to be plenty of cash lying around. The company says it will increase its 2015-16 share buyback program to six million shares, up 50 per cent from the previous limit of four million shares. There must be a lot of money sitting around to make that decision, and it benefits the share holders.

yes and no.
reason to do that is to artificially increase earnings per share to have the shareholders enjoying those earnings. it also creates a demand on the market for this stock and price goes up. in that case WJ's employees are also concerned, are they not owners after all. at 20$/share it roughly is a 120 million buyback program which is not so much. one would have to consider total cash amount to have a better idea.
They will tell you it's good for the company and a good way to invest cash, but if you think about it twice, there are way more profitable products to invest money than this one.
the drawback is that using your cash to do that is just creating earnings via financial movements but not thanks to your primary commercial activity which will suffer from a lack of investment if you spend all your cash to buy shares. those companies doing this have seen huge cuts in R&D or investments to remain competitive.
Some companies will not hesitate to borrow huge amounts to satisfy a share buyback program whatever the revenues and company performance are.
this is more or less the same thing as using your credit card#2 to pay #1.
see DELL / HP/ IBM/ etc...

[brooks]

this is more or less the same thing as using your credit card#2 to pay #1.
see DELL / HP/ IBM/ etc...

Not quite if you're using cash on hand. B767's are cheap right now, remember WJ has money in the bank.

[MUSKEG]

I heard a theory that these cuts were for two reasons. Reduced ridership yes but also to free up tails to send east to directly compete hard with Porter.