Westjet 2005 Annual Report Download - page 22

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20
YOUR OWNERS’ MANUAL
Airport Operations
WestJet’s airport operations are comprised of the costs
of landing fees and terminal fees at airports, ground
handling and onboard service items and worldwide charter
airport activities. In 2005, airport operations increased
5.7% on a CASM basis, and increased 14.8% on a
cost-per-departure basis over 2004.
Fee increases imposed by our airport and ground-handling
partners amounted to approximately 6.9% and 6.1%
respectively. These costs were further magnified by our
expanding international charter and transborder operations.
With a combined increase of almost 89%, these account
for a growing proportion of our operations and we are
typically charged higher rates and fees compared with
our domestic operations. We also experienced a 30.2%
increase in the proportion of flights departing from Canada’s
largest and most expensive airport, Toronto’s Lester B.
Pearson International Airport. Per-departure and per-ASM
costs have also been impacted by the continued reduction
in our 200-series usage. While the utilization of our
Next-Generation aircraft provide many operating efficiencies,
these larger aircraft incur higher airport landing and
terminal fees as these fees are based on the number of
seats in, as well as the weight of, an aircraft.
The efforts of the airport operations team focused
on the improvement of operational efficiencies in 2005.
On April 14, 2005, we introduced our convenient and
cost efficient online check-in service for domestic travellers.
Online check-in, together with the enhanced self-service
kiosks that we originally introduced in 2004, reduce labour
costs and have been widely embraced by our guests with
usage increasing 32.7% during 2005.
Looking to 2006, additional cost increases associated
with airport rates and fees are expected to be moderate as
the effects of recently proposed reduced federal government
ground rents filter down to the airport authorities. In
spite of these proposed federal government ground rent
reductions, many domestic airports have continued to
introduce increases in 2006. As a result, our uncontrollable
airport costs are expected to rise 2.1 percentage points to
71.1% of total airport operations costs in 2006.
Ethel Egilson
Standards & Procedures Coordinator
Dave Jackart
Recruitment Assistant
Bernie Veness
Mail Clerk