Westjet 2013 Annual Report Download - page 23

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WestJet Annual Report 2013 23
is a key strategy of ours allowing us to welcome on board new guests from around the world. We have partnership
agreements in place with 33 airlines enabling our guests to access over 140 destinations via WestJet.
Guest experience and service enhancements
During the fourth quarter of 2013, we unveiled a co-branded custom-painted Boeing Next-Generation (NG) 737-800 series
aircraft featuring a Sorcerer Mickey Mouse (the Magic Plane). The Magic Plane is a result of the existing relationship between
WestJet, WestJet Vacations and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts (Canada) and the shared vision of creating memorable
experiences for our guests.
In 2013, we added functionality to our website, westjet.com, to include new online services and a more user-friendly
experience. We delivered easy-to-use mobile web capabilities to Apple, Android and Blackberry devices for certain
functionalities such as flight search, flight booking, check-in, and flight status. In November of 2013, our first WestJet mobile
app was released to the Google store.
In November 2013, our WestJet RBC® World Elite MasterCard± ranked number one amongst travel reward cards in Canada’s
Top Travel Rewards Credit Card category by Rewards Canada. This ranking is in addition to the top rating received in the third
quarter of 2013 as Canada’s best travel rewards card for 2013, according to MoneySense magazine.
We completed the seat reconfiguration program and the commercial launch of fare bundles and the Plus product to the
market. While the fare bundles – Econo, Flex and Plus – provide guests with the ability to pay for options they want, the Plus
fare guest will gain additional flexibility, comfort and convenience through a full list of amenities and options offered by the
Plus product. The Plus product includes complimentary flight change and cancellation options, extra baggage allowance, extra
legroom, complimentary food and drinks, advance boarding and overhead bin space and priority security screening at certain
airports. At the same time, fare bundles places a focus on incremental revenue opportunities, which we expect to be in the
high end of our previously disclosed range of $50 million to $80 million on an annualized basis.
®Registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of the Royal Bank of Canada.
±MasterCard and World MasterCard are registered trademarks of MasterCard International Incorporated.
Business transformation initiative
In January 2013, we launched a three-year company-wide business transformation initiative with the goal to reduce annual
costs by $100 million by the end of 2015. Our long-term vision is to ensure WestJet’s costs per available seat mile are
competitive with other low-cost North American airlines, allowing us to continue to offer low fares to our guests. As part of
this initiative, we held a series of meetings with WestJetters across Canada to explain its importance and to rally our cost-
conscious culture. As of the date of this MD&A, we have identified and put into action measures that we believe will enable us
to achieve $100 million of future annual cost savings by the end of 2014, a year ahead of our previous goal of 2015. These
measures include, among others:
The successful application for an exemption from Transport Canada that allows us to staff one flight attendant for
every 50 seats onboard an aircraft (1:50 flight attendant ratio). This exemption is in-line with the international
industry standard practice and is consistent with our commitment toward safety. On October 1, 2013, with the
cooperation from our flight attendants, we transitioned to and are now operating under the 1:50 flight attendant
ratio. We anticipate that this change will provide us with future cost savings, allow us the ability to compete on an
equal basis with North American and international carriers and enable us to offer affordable fares to our guests.
Obtaining agreement from the pilot association to move from a single-crew base and port system to a multi-base
model. We believe this model will improve both operational performance and crew staffing efficiency by basing crews
to better match our balanced east-west network, to reduce costs associated with crew accommodations and provide
benefits to the health and well-being of our crew members by reducing the average commute time.
Completing our seat reconfiguration program, as discussed above under the heading
Guest experience and service
enhancements
.