WestJet - Airline Partnerships

Airline Partnerships

In 1999, WestJet was in talks regarding a possible 'feeder' arrangement for Air Canada's network. These talks were apparently discontinued when Air Canada went forward with acquisition of Canadian Airlines the following year.

In 2005, WestJet began a limited interline agreement with Taiwan-based China Airlines, in part to test the company's capability to partner with other carriers.

In August 2006, in a Globe and Mail interview, then-WestJet CEO Sean Durfy stated that WestJet was in talks with Oneworld. Durfy said that, if a deal with Oneworld were reached, it would allow WestJet to maintain its scheduling flexibility; Durfy was later quoted in 2007 saying that a deal for WestJet to join the Oneworld alliance was unlikely. Despite this, WestJet did formalize a deal with Oneworld in November 2008, to partner on sales of travel to corporate and business travelers.

In July 2008 WestJet announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding to build a distribution and codeshare agreement with U.S. based Southwest Airlines. However, in April 2010 WestJet announced that the airline partnership with Southwest Airlines was terminated, in October 2010 WestJet partnered with American Airlines instead.

In 2009 WestJet announced it has been in talks with 70 airlines around the world interested in an interline or codeshare agreement.

WestJet currently has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• American Airlines (Oneworld)
• British Airways (Oneworld)
• Cathay Pacific (Oneworld)
• China Eastern Airlines (SkyTeam)
• Delta Air Lines (SkyTeam)
• Japan Airlines (Oneworld)
• KLM (SkyTeam)
• Korean Air (SkyTeam)