Westjet 2004 Annual Report Download - page 11

WESTJET ANNUAL REPORT 2004
11
and we expect the remaining aircraft in our fleet to be
outfitted with this technology by late April 2005.
This product offers our guests the ability to enjoy 24
channels of live Bell ExpressVu satellite television in the
comfort of their own seat. From children’s shows to movies
and business news, each guest can select the channel that
is the most interesting to them. Feedback from guests who
have used this product has been extremely positive and we
expect that this differentiation of our product will increase
loyalty to our carrier. Given our experience to date, we are
even more confident that we will experience an incremental
load factor and yield increase as a result of this service.
Many of the cost challenges faced by the industry in 2004
will continue through the year ahead. High fuel prices will
undoubtedly continue to be a challenge; however, I am
confident that with the much-improved competitive
environment, WestJet’s restored growth and fleet strategy
will put us in an optimal position to benefit from this new
reality. Being able to operate with the lowest costs that
are sustainable continues to be the most important factor
that will determine the success of our airline in the future,
and WestJet has and will continue to lead the way in this
critical area.
I would like to thank all of our people who have worked
very hard throughout another challenging year and our
shareholders for their ongoing support.
On behalf of the Board,
Clive Beddoe
Executive Chairman, President
and Chief Executive Officer
WestJet Airlines Ltd.
March 2005
Gary Dyck, TAC Agent
Florida; and launched service to an eighth city, Palm
Springs, California, in January 2005. Our aggressive launch
of transborder service into these markets was impacted
by the fact that we focussed much of our efforts on Florida
during the worst hurricane season in 30 years. Losses on
our transborder markets amounted to approximately $4.5
million in the fourth quarter; however, 80% of these routes
are now showing positive results.
As I have said in the past, we will make decisions that are
best for the long-term success of our airline, not merely
for short-term profitability. Despite the risks that were
associated with our move into these transborder markets,
we are confident that this was the right decision for our
airline and we are comfortable with the gains we are
seeing on these routes in the first quarter of 2005.
On December 1, 2004, we were very pleased to welcome
Sean Durfy to our team as Executive Vice-President,
Marketing and Sales, responsible for the development of
marketing strategies. We expect Sean’s extensive
experience to benefit our business as a whole, and we are
looking forward to his positive contributions.
In November 2004, we implemented an internal
reorganization, which involved creating two levels of vice-
president: executive vice-president and vice-president. Our
new executive vice-president level includes Donald Bell,
Sandy Campbell, Sean Durfy, Thomas Morgan and Fred Ring.
Reporting to the executive vice-presidents, we hired and/or
appointed a total of nine vice-presidents in early 2005. Though
this is a new and unique way to structure our organization,
we believe that it will be very effective in managing the
operational and non-operational areas of WestJet and will
allow us to more efficiently manage our growth.
We were very honoured to be ranked as the third Most
Respected Corporation in Canada in the 2004 ‘Canada’s
Most Respected Corporations Survey’ by Ipsos-Reid. I am
extremely proud of the efforts of each and every WestJetter
who helped us to be selected as the number one company
in Canada for High Quality Service/Product, first place in
Customer Service, second place in Human Resources
Management, second place in Top of Mind and second
place in Innovation and Product/Service Development. This
recognition on a national scale underscores the importance
of the value we place on hiring and training customer
service-oriented people, and improving our airline through
the addition of innovative products and services.
Our partnership with BMO and AIR MILE S® continues to
grow as the number of WestJet-branded credit cards
increases in the marketplace and more Canadians are
seeing the benefits that this card provides to enhance
their ability to earn points and fly for free sooner to all
of WestJet’s destinations.
We were very pleased to launch our first aircraft equipped
with live seatback satellite television in July 2004, and by
December 31, 2004 we had equipped 14 aircraft with this
unique product. Our installation program remains on track
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