World Traveller 73 
Another Canadian Low Cost Carrier Disappears: Westjet Airlines Cancels Swoop’s Future
The low cost carrier market within domestic Canada has always been a hyper competitive and cutthroat environment. Over the years, we have seen a number of low cost carrier’s come and go, including Canada 3000, Jetsgo, Greyhound Air, Air Canada Tango and Harmony Airways. Low Cost Carriers almost always typically enter bankruptcy protection, or are eventually absorbed by another carrier. Now, after five years of operation, we can see the route ahead for Swoop Airlines; the carrier is being absorbed into Westjet Airlines.
Another Low Cost Carrier Disappears: Westjet Airlines Cancels Swoop’s Future
Westjet Airlines has announced they are cancelling Swoop Airlines by integrating it into the future of Westjet Airlines regular operations.
What is Swoop Airlines:
Swoop Airlines was Westjet Airlines version of an ultra low cost carrier. The airlines was headquartered in Calgary and was named after Westjet’s desire to “swoop” into the Canadian market with a low cost carrier business model.
Swoop operated completely on a low cost model. On this principle, all of it’s fares were de-bundled. There were separate charges for base airfare, seat selection, carry on baggage, checked baggage, oversized baggage, cancellations, contact centre fees and on board wifi and snacks.
Swoop operated the following types of aircraft:
- Boeing 737-800 (10)
- Beoing 737 Max 8 (6)
The similarity through the fleet make it a very consistent fleet for it’s employees to operate.
There was no Swoop Frequent Flier Program, therefore all those miles earned travelling on Swoop, did not yield any additional incentive.
While it was always a consideration for me to fly Swoop, the fact that an unbundled fare with every add on pretty much equalled what I would get flying with Air Canada – along with earning Air Canada Aeroplan miles, pretty much put Swoop out of my interest. As a result, I personally tended to stick with the Canadian Business traveller’s favourite: Air Canada for my travels around Canada.
Where Swoop Flied:
When it started operations, the airline announced it’s intention to operate from nearby airports of Edmonton, Abbotsford, Hamilton and Winnipeg. In doing so, it operated a number of odd ball domestic routes just as Abbotsford – London (Ontario) and Hamilton – St John. It also offered transborder service from select markets from Canada to the United States.
At the very least, Swoop operated an interesting route network and appeared to have a fairly loyal client base with a younger demographic of leisure travellers.
Westjet Pulls the Plug on Swoop:
In a Westjet press release announced yesterday, Westjet announced that Swoop would be discontinuing operations.
Within the press release two items were announced:
Westjet Pilots Finalize A Wage Increase:
Westjet announced that their pilots have ratified their collective agreement, which will see pilot’s pay increase by 24%. Under the ratified deal, Westjet pilots will receive a 15.5% hourly pay raise this year retroactive to Jan. 1, and a cumulative 8.5 per cent hike to their hourly wage over the remainder of the contract.
The collective agreement is based on a four year deal from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2006. This comes during a time of increase pilot labour pressure, with many pilots leaving Canada for higher paid compensation opportunities in the United States.
Westjet Announces Swoop Airlines will be intergrated into Westjet:
In conjunction with this announcement, Westjet announced that after Westjet pilots ratified their collective agreement, Swoop Airlines operations would be folded into Westjet operations.
Within the press release, Westjet Airlines stated:
As negotiated in the collective agreement, the WestJet Group will now begin integration efforts of its ultra-low-cost airline, Swoop.
Through an expedited process, the airline anticipates a full integration into its mainline operations by the end of October.
To avoid traveller impact, Swoop will operate its existing network through to the end of its published schedule on October 28. Swoop employees will move to WestJet.
The results of this are that the sixteen Boeing 737 and Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft operated by Swoop will move towards a Westjet model by end of year. This means that we can expect these aircraft will be converted to Westjet livery at some point in the near future.
My Thoughts on Canada Losing another Low Cost Carrier:
The history of low cost carriers in Canada hasn’t ever been too sustainable in the long term. Over the years, we’ve seen carriers like Canada 3000, Jetsgo, Air Canada Tango, Greyhound Air disappear into thin air, or otherwise merged into larger organizations.
While Swoop Airlines will follow the absorption trajectory into Westjet Airlines, the largest winners of this will be Westjet Airlines and Swoop Employees.
Westjet Airlines will have an easier job of integrating the fleet. This is as a result of the Boeing 737-800 equipment type being the equipment that Westjet uses in its regular day – to – day operations. Westjet presently runs an all Boeing fleet of 112 aircraft featuring Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-8 Max and Boeing 787-8 aircraft. This will likely make training and conversion efforts as simple as they possibly could be, from a human resource, financial and acquisition aspect. Swoop employees, including their pilots will also likely be the winners here, as they will gain access to better routes, likely higher compensation and better benefits.
The largest losers in this business decision will be Swoop’s dedicated younger customer base and travellers dedicated to the lowest cost model. This customer demographic will likely see higher fares on Westjet, and may decide to move their travel business to Canada’s remaining low cost carriers such as Lynx Air or Flair Airlines.
The other large losers in this scenario will be the smaller suburban airports which we can anticipate to see a reduction in service. Airports such as Abbotsford, British Columbia, London / Hamilton, Ontario and Deer Lake , Newfoundland will likely see a reduction in service as they align operations with Westjet and business efficiencies are found and optimized. While these are often branded as greater access to the mainline network, often these route eventually disappear from service, leaving the travellers around these airports the losers in this equation.
In Summary: Westjet Pulls the Plug on Swoop Low Cost Carrier
Westjet has announced that it’s low cost carrier Swoop Airlines will be integrated into Westjet Airlines. Swoop Airlines will cease operations as of October 28, 2023.
The largest winners in this story are the Swoop employees and Westjet Airlines that doesn’t have to operate two brands, along with the resource challenges and administration costs that a two brand model entails.
The largest losers in this story are the cost conscious travellers that are looking for the lowest cost model at all costs. In addition, the Swoop Airlines suburban airport that are served by Swoop are likely to lose some service as a result of integration of operations, as Westjet harmonizes it’s overall operational efficiencies.
World Traveller 73 
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