WestJet CEO's Regina visit aims to reassure Sask. travellers, following return to pre-pandemic level of service

Business leaders in Saskatchewan and the head of WestJet met in Regina, discussing issues facing the industry as well what the future holds for air travel in the province.

“This is one of the most expensive jurisdictions to provide air travel and what this country needs is more affordability,” said CEO of WestJet, Alexis von Hoenbroech.

MP for Regina-Wascana – Michael Kram – claimed that federal regulations are a main contributing factor for travel cost concerns.

“We’ve been calling for many years to cancel the carbon tax which goes up every year which increases the cost of jet fuel,” he told CTV News. “All of those costs can pass directly to airlines and that makes life less and less affordable for everybody.”

Another popular topic of discussion at the Hotel Saskatchewan meeting was the hold placed on all WestJet flights from Regina in December due to flight backlogs.

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The hold halted many travel plans for those in the Queen City over the holidays.

“We are super happy that this is behind us now,” Hoenbroech added. “I think we have applied a total of more than 5,000 people since the pandemic to staff up to the levels of reliable service that our guests rightly expect from us.”

Originally founded in 1996, WestJet now includes 180 aircraft, 14,000 employees and serves over 100 destinations in 26 countries.

Service at Regina’s International Airport (YQR) returned to pre-pandemic levels for the first time over the summer – indicating a growing demand for air travel across the province.

Overall, Hoenbroech expressed hope for more accountability from sources other than the airlines to be held accountable.

“If you want to improve a sector but you aren’t holding the whole sector accountable, you can’t expect that things will improve and they won’t improve,” he explained.

For the Regina Airport Authority, ongoing consultation with airlines is important when considering future growth.

“When WestJet is looking at routes and new places to add, that relationship matters," said Justin Reves, Director of Revenue Development at YQR. “The ability to try out the community and try out some of these new routes.”

Regina’s airport is optimistic that it will not run into the same problems in this upcoming holiday season.

Travellers in Regina can expect greater connectivity to Canadian travel hubs such as Toronto and Vancouver as well as non-stop routes to warm weather destinations such as Cancun, Mazatlan, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana and Varadero this upcoming winter.