Westjet 2014 Annual Report Download - page 37

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WestJet Annual Report 2014ā”‚ 35
with our partners. Consequently, weaker traffic coming from our partners or unexpected costs or technical issues with our
partner network and systems could have an increasingly adverse effect on our operations and financial results.
Our guest experience is also increasingly subject to variation as our guests increase their travel on our partner airlines. This
could have an adverse effect on our business and financial results if our guests perceive a lower quality experience on our
partners.
The failure of critical systems on which we rely could harm our business.
We depend on automated systems to operate our business and support our initiatives, including our flight control systems,
computerized airline reservation systems, telecommunication systems, aircraft maintenance systems, airport kiosk terminals
and website. Our website and reservation systems must be able to accommodate a high volume of traffic and deliver
important and accurate flight information. Any disruption to these systems could result in the loss of important data,
reallocation of personnel, failure to meet critical deadlines, increased expenses, and could generally harm our business, guest
experience and reputation.
Portions of key technology systems, including our revenue accounting system and reservation systems, are outsourced to third
parties on whom we are reliant for timely and accurate processing of information critical to our business. In the ordinary
course of business, our systems will require modifications and refinements to address our growth and business requirements.
We could be adversely affected if we are unable to modify our systems as necessary.
Integration of complex systems and technology presents significant challenges in terms of costs, human resources and
development of effective internal controls. Integration also presents the risk of operational or security inadequacy or
interruption, which could materially affect the ability to effectively operate our business.
As a company that processes, transmits and stores credit card data, we are subject to compliance with certain requirements
established by credit card companies. Non-compliance with these requirements, whether through system breaches or
limitations, may result in substantial fines or temporary or permanent exclusion from one or more credit card acceptance
programs. The inability to process one or more credit card brands could have a material adverse impact on our guest bookings
and could harm our business.
We may occasionally experience system interruptions and delays that make our website and services unavailable or slow to
respond, which could prevent us from efficiently processing guest transactions or providing services. This, in turn, could
reduce our operating revenues and the attractiveness of our services. Our computer and communications systems and
operations could be damaged or interrupted by catastrophic events such as fires, floods, tornadoes, power loss, computer and
telecommunications failures, acts of war or terrorism, computer viruses, security breaches, and similar events or disruptions.
Any of these events could cause system interruptions, delays, and loss of critical data, and could prevent us from processing
guest transactions or providing services, which could make our business and services less attractive and subject us to liability.
Any of these events could damage our reputation and be expensive to remedy.
If we fail to maintain the privacy and security of our guestsā€™ information, we could damage our reputation and
incur substantial costs.
In the ordinary course of our business we receive, process and store vast amounts of information from our guests, often
through online operations that depend upon the secure communication of information over public networks and in reliance on
third party service providers. Although we maintain systems to protect this information, these systems must be continuously
monitored and updated and could be compromised, in which case our guest information could become subject to intrusion,
tampering or theft.
Any compromise of our data security systems or the security systems of our third party service providers could have an
adverse impact on our reputation, could be costly to remediate and could result in litigation or regulatory sanctions, any of
which could have a material adverse effect on our business.