18 DEC 2018: WestJet chief executive Ed Sims was checking in for a television interview at the Business News Network (BNN) recently and was queried by a staffer: “I thought you guys were out of business?” Not by a long shot. But such is the nature of WestJet’s wobbly year in 2018.

“It’s been a very difficult year,” WestJet executive VP, commercial, Tim Croyle admitted to Travel Industry Today, citing a “confluence of factors” that included labour troubles in the Spring (a threat of a pilot strike that was ultimately averted), “crazy high fuel prices,” and heightened competition (that latter two not confined to WJ, of course). Subsequent to Croyle’s comments, the airline has also been ordered to appear before the Competition Bureau to answer charges of predatory pricing by Flair Airlines.

With such diversions, the airline suffered its first loss in 13 years in Q2, and a steep year-over-year drop in the third quarter.

However, as the calendar flips to 2019, the airline is enthused about its current state of operations, including some definite wins during the past year, such as the launches of WestJet’s ultra low-cost carrier Swoop and WestJet Link (with Pacific Coastal Airlines), introduction of a redesigned fare family, new joint venture with Delta Air Lines, expanded codeshare agreement with Qantas, and long-term extension of its RBC Mastercard branded credit card agreement.

“Yes, it was a bad year… but we have achieved so many goals,” Croyle says, pointing, for example, to the company assembling a new but experienced executive team, including Sims, who ascended to the role of CEO in March (replacing Gregg Saretsky), and incoming chief commercial officer Arved von zur Muehlen, who will take the reins on Jan. 2.

Looking ahead, WestJet hopes to grow passenger capacity by between 6.5 and 8.5 percent next year, mainly through the introduction of its first three Dreamliners (there are 10 on order), which will embark on non-stop service from Calgary to Dublin, Paris and London Gatwick, as well as the expansion of Swoop to 10 aircraft and, with it, adding new destinations such as Montego Bay and Cancun.

As for the issue of the high cost of fuel, WestJet will benefit from the greater fuel efficiency of its new Boeing aircraft, as well as utilizing technology to determine more efficient flight routes and even slimming down its inflight magazines to reduce onboard weight.

WestJet recently offered glimpses to both investors and trade partners in Toronto of its new Dreamliner 787 seats, including economy (276), premium economy (28) and business class (16). But it is the latter that truly takes the airline to the next level, with individual pods – all with aisle access – and plenty of storage space and entertainment options.

Also revealed was a stylish new two-by-two premium seat layout for 737 aircraft (gone are the blocked-off centre seats).

The new-look seating and cabins are part of a suite of service enhancements being rolled out across the fleet over the next 18 months that will also include Canadian-flavoured meal services (including, for example, ice wine) and dine on demand.

“We’re taking a very different approach to service,” says Croyle. “We want to tailor what you want to when you want it and provide a customized service. We will let our guests determine what they want… It’s not vanilla, one size fits all.”

The new seats, premium food, and dine-on-demand service are particularly aimed at business class clientele, who will now have an opportunity to have a quick bite and snooze before arriving in a destination for meetings, says Croyle.

The new business class gives WestJet the ability to compete with Air Canada on transatlantic routes and potentially Asia as the carrier positions itself for future service there.

WestJet’s loyalty program is also being enhanced, with easier-to-reach targets and the introduction of a new platinum tier that features priority check-in and boarding, and concierge service.

Customers will also benefit from “deeper relationships” with partners such as Delta that will provide more seamless connections, better schedules and product benefits, says Croyle, who adds that discussions are already underway with Air France-KLM. “It won’t matter what metal you’re flying on,” he says.

At a gala evening for top preferred agents on Dec. 13, WestJet chief digital and information officer Alfredo Tan gave the audience a glimpse of the future of the airline (and the world) based on technological advancements, particularly artificial intelligence. And it’s a future that’s already arrived, with, for example, the launch in August of WestJet’s chatbox assistant, Juliet, whom Tan says will soon become “a fully capable assistant.”

A video showed a future WestJet guest walking through an airport and being directed by Juliet via earpiece to the WestJet lounge, being offered a customized coffee en route, entering the lounge without passports or boarding passes thanks to facial recognition technology, and having the coffee waiting to be picked up.

“We’re a digital services company that just happens to fly planes,” Tan quoted WestJet CEO Ed Sims as saying, while director of agency sales Jane Clementino, observed, “This is our future and we’re very, very close.”

WestJet VP of marketing, Richard Bartram, meanwhile assured agents that the airline has always maintained a “mindful approach” to its growth and will continue to do so as it “pivots” into a global airline – one that, for example, purposefully expanded into the realm of ultra low-cost carriers with Swoop this year, and which is now targeting the premium market going forward to reflect statistics showing that business and premium travellers make up 26 percent of the market, but at the same time represent 50 percent of volume and 56 percent of spend.

With all that is new and coming, and the focus on premium clients, Croyle is quick to insist that WestJet is committed to maintaining cost advantages over its rivals, pointing out that the airline currently has over a million fares under $100 in the market every day.

And while it is always dangerous to presume a lack of turbulence ahead, Croyle says WestJet has come a long way from its low-cost status to being “on the cusp of being a new carrier – a global premium airline.”

Indeed, WestJet plans for next year include spending $1.1 billion on deposits and purchases related to the Dreamliners and Boeing 737 MAX narrow-body aircraft. It also plans expenditures of about $980 million in 2020 and $1.1 billion in 2021 on seven more Dreamliners – all to serve what is currently 107 destinations in Canada, the US, Europe, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

“I think,” Croyle says, “we have a very strong foundation for 2019.”

In fact, WestJet believes its future is so bright, it issued Ray Ban sunglasses to every one of its 200 guests at the Toronto event.

Teal-tinted, of course.