WestJet will keep its unique culture says airline CEO after buyout by Onex
Posted May 14, 2019 12:12 pm.
Last Updated May 14, 2019 2:43 pm.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – The president and CEO of a Calgary based airline says it will be business as usual despite being bought by private equity firm Onex.
Ed Sims spoke in Calgary on Tuesday, one day after the stunning $5 billion was announced.
READ: Experts, travellers react to sale of Calgary-based WestJet
Sims spoke to reporters, saying that the quaint West Jetter culture that has set the airline apart from its competitors will stay the same.
“They (Onex) have bought into WestJet’s ethos that we are here to humanize air travel. We keep fares fair, we are a challenger brand, we’ve brought competition to this marketplace and we’ve kept essentially existing players honest by doing that. That is absolutely our commitment in the future.”
The CEO went on to say that Onex made the large purchase knowing it has aggressive expansions including more wide-body jets to international destinations and building up its ultra low fare airline, Swoop.
As part of the agreement, WestJet will keep its headquarters in Calgary, which Sims strongly mentioned, makes sense.
“We like to think, we’re not just made in Calgary, we’re made of Calgary. We have three and a half thousand staff here and for us, this is our home and we want to stay very true to our routes and very true to our DNA.”
The sale will see WestJet become a privately owned company which Sims says allows the airline to focus on its long term strategy and the future of their 14,000 employees.
