737 Toronto Base Future

[aboveclouds]

With WestJet recently focusing more on western operations, is there a chance the 737 base in Toronto may eventually be eliminated?

[dontcallmeshirley]

Yes, there's a chance, but since there is a shortage of pilots, I don't see it happening any time soon.

Look at Encore.

[boeingboy]

Eliminated - no. I don't see it.

90% of Sunwings business is out of Toronto and Montreal...there will still be a need for quite a few aircraft and personnel out of there.

[dontcallmeshirley]

Eliminated - no. I don't see it.

90% of Sunwings business is out of Toronto and Montreal...there will still be a need for quite a few aircraft and personnel out of there.

What happens when Onex does what Onex does and WestJet is no longer getting squeezed from the top? Alexis was Chief Commercial Officer at Lufthansa Cargo for 3y8m and CEO/CFO at Austrian for 3y5m. His departure is fast approaching and with it a new direction... again.

[aerobod]

Alexis was Chief Commercial Officer at Lufthansa Cargo for 3y8m and CEO/CFO at Austrian for 3y5m. His departure is fast approaching and with it a new direction... again.

Of course they were both roles in the Lufthansa Group, of which he was employed from 2005 to 2021 in senior roles, so doesn't look like he has moved from company to company very often.

[dontcallmeshirley]

Alexis was Chief Commercial Officer at Lufthansa Cargo for 3y8m and CEO/CFO at Austrian for 3y5m. His departure is fast approaching and with it a new direction... again.

Of course they were both roles in the Lufthansa Group, of which he was employed from 2005 to 2021 in senior roles, so doesn't look like he has moved from company to company very often.

Onex is an investment firm that buys companies, flips them (AKA cut costs to make it look more profitable), and sells them. The timeframe is usually 3-5 years. WestJet is coming up on three years since being purchased by Onex.

Now, when WestJet is sold, most likely through an IPO, the board will change. Alexis, Diederik, and the other scrooges on the executive team and the board will change.

[aerobod]

Alexis was Chief Commercial Officer at Lufthansa Cargo for 3y8m and CEO/CFO at Austrian for 3y5m. His departure is fast approaching and with it a new direction... again.

Of course they were both roles in the Lufthansa Group, of which he was employed from 2005 to 2021 in senior roles, so doesn't look like he has moved from company to company very often.

Onex is an investment firm that buys companies, flips them (AKA cut costs to make it look more profitable), and sells them. The timeframe is usually 3-5 years. WestJet is coming up on three years since being purchased by Onex.

Now, when WestJet is sold, most likely through an IPO, the board will change. Alexis, Diederik, and the other scrooges on the executive team and the board will change.

You mean like BBAM, one of the other aviation holdings they have had in the portfolio for 11 years now?

[fish4life]

It’s also pretty typical for management teams to stay on for a period of time “x” after an ipo since investors will want continuity in the business they just bought shares of otherwise they wouldn’t have bought the IPO shares.

Who knows what the internal Onex thoughts are on this by my 2 cents is they will wait to IPO until after a year of full Sunwing integration where they can show the efficiency gained with the acquisition.

[JBI]

With WestJet recently focusing more on western operations, is there a chance the 737 base in Toronto may eventually be eliminated?

There’s always a chance, but my thinking is that it’s an exceptionally low one. During this transition to the western flying, the Executives have always been very clear that WJ will continue to focus on leisure flying. Now that Sunwing is in the fold, there is and will continue to be leisure flying out of YYZ. In addition, still lots of east-west flying, a lot of it still operated by YYZ based crews.

What exactly this flying looks like in the future remains to be seen. I.E. will YYZ pilot do “only” leisure sun flying? Or will it still be a mix. YYZ is also likely to be the largest point of integration with SunWing, so while it likely wouldn’t matter for a new hire, it may be that you end up flying with more former SWG pilots than former WJ pilots.

As for how long Onex will keep WJ and how long Alexis sticks around, on the former, I would expect a minimum of 10 years from initial purchase to when they start selling off. Especially considering that they bought an airline just months before COVID, it’ll take them a while to the value back where they need it to sell. Things are improving nicely, but we’re not there yet.

[Aviator12]

ETOPs training is going to start again this fall. The rumour is overseas flying is on its way back.