Westjet 2015 Annual Report Download - page 4

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 4 of the 2015 Westjet annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 101

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101

WestJet Annual Report 2015 | 2
President’s message to shareholders
Our airline turned 20 years old earlier this year and we did not miss the opportunity to celebrate this important
milestone with WestJetters. Over the last 20 years, despite many changes in the macroeconomic environment and
the continuing evolution of our business, WestJet has built a track record of success, reporting profits in 19 of our 20
years. The one thing that has remained constant for us over that period is the passion for our business that
WestJetters demonstrate every day. Our now more than 11,000 WestJetters continue to drive our success and as we
look to the next 20 years, I want to thank each and every one of them for their commitment to delivering our award-
winning brand of caring friendly service to our guests.
In 2015, we reported all-time high net earnings of $367.5 million or $2.92 per fully diluted share, up 16 and 19 per
cent respectively as compared to our 2014 adjusted results. 2015 was our fourth consecutive year of record net
earnings and our 11th consecutive year of profitability. The fourth quarter of 2015 represented our 43rd consecutive
profitable quarter. We continued to put significant focus on improving our on-time performance in 2015, and as a
result 85.3 per cent of our flights arrived within 14 minutes of our published timetable, up 6.4 percentage points
year-over-year, cementing our position as Canada’s on-time airline. WestJet Encore, meanwhile, was North America’s
number one regional airline in on-time performance.
The fundamentals of our business are very strong, and the strategic initiatives we have been undertaking to continue
evolving our business
will help us meet the needs of a changing marketplace. These include:
• The continuing development of our network, including our virtual network of airline partners;
• The continued expansion of WestJet Encore;
• The introduction of our enhanced Plus service, with an empty middle seat;
• The introduction of wide-body aircraft into our fleet;
• The further evolution of our fare bundles product and ancillary revenue; and
• Our new inflight entertainment and connectivity system, WestJet Connect.
In 2015 we continued to grow and strengthen our network which now serves more than 100 destinations in North
America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Combined with our airline partners, our virtual network
provides our guests access to over 160 destinations via WestJet. Over the course of 2015 we continued to develop
our airline partnerships, evolving our interline agreements with Philippine Airlines and Aeroméxico into code-share
agreements.
We continued to expand our fleet in 2015 with the addition of 12 new Boeing 737-800NGs and nine new Bombardier
Q400s while disposing of five of our oldest Boeing 737-700NGs as part of our strategy to optimize and modernize our
fleet. Supported by this fleet expansion, we flew more than 20 million guests for the first time in 2015, an increase of
3.2 per cent year over year, or 629,000 additional guests.
WestJet Encore continued its successful expansion in 2015, bringing WestJet’s brand of friendly caring service to new
communities, generating feed for our broader network, and increasing our overall schedule efficiency. During the
year, we announced Boston, Massachusetts as WestJet Encore’s first transborder destination, and we recently added
Nashville, Tennessee, with service beginning in the first half of 2016. We continue to see new opportunities for
WestJet Encore, and I look forward to its continued growth as part of our overall network.
In October, we began operating wide-body Boeing 767-300ER aircraft for the first time. We took delivery of the first
two of our four Boeing 767 aircraft, and recently began service with those aircraft on routes between Alberta and
Hawaii. Beginning in the spring of 2016, we will use our Boeing 767 aircraft to expand our transatlantic service to
London Gatwick. London is the crown jewel of international travel from Canada, and we have seen a strong market
response to our new service. Strength in the Pound Sterling versus the Canadian dollar is helping to propel UK point
of sale bookings on these routes, and we expect our 767 service to be immediately accretive to earnings.