WestJet has announced an agreement with Boeing for an order totaling 67 aircraft, involving the Boeing 737 MAX 10 and the Boeing 787-9. As the airline looks to expand both within Canada and internationally, this purchase will no doubt aid this process.
The airline’s Boeing 737 MAX 10 order includes 60 aircraft, with an option for an additional 25. The Boeing 787-9 order includes seven aircraft.
WestJet is expected to be the launch customer of the 737 MAX 10. The 60 aircraft order is in addition to 42 others that were ordered a few years ago, bringing the total number of 737 MAX 10 orders to 102.
With this latest agreement with Boeing, the existing order book for WestJet is now at 123 aircraft with 40 options.
“With the addition of these aircraft, WestJet has the largest order book of any airline in Canada and will double our fleet of Dreamliners, underpinning our growth plans and our commitment to affordable travel options for Canadians from coast-to-coast and exciting career paths for our people,” said WestJet Chief Executive Officer, Alexis von Hoensbroech. “These highly efficient and comfortable aircraft are critical to the growth and renewal of our fleet and will also significantly improve our fuel consumption.”
WestJet’s existing Boeing 787s have 16 business class seats, utilizing the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats. These are also seen on many other airlines including American Airlines, Qatar Airways, and fellow rival Air Canada. It’s a solid seat overall.
With this new order, I wonder how much WestJet will commit to these business class seats. For one, WestJet does consider itself as a low-cost airline, and its focus on leisure customers and destinations makes sense for the airline’s current configuration.
However, with the rise of premium demand and premium cabins around the world, I also have to wonder if the airline would consider a bigger business class cabin. Four rows isn’t a ton, and expanding it a little bit could also open up opportunities with new destinations.
Either way, this is an exciting time for WestJet. I’ve repeatedly talked about on this blog my wish for the airline’s growth and to take some market share away from Air Canada. The recent Air Canada strike was another reason to further revisit this wish, and I do think it’ll be a benefit for consumers to have a larger WestJet presence as a second option.
Delta and Korean Air have also recently announced investments in WestJet. With the additional number of Boeing 787s now coming the airline’s way, this perhaps further opens the door for the airline to become a SkyTeam member.
All photos by WestJet.
