This report is based on an interview with Ed Sims, CEO of WestJet, presented to CAPA Live on November 14, 2020. Next month CAPA Live will take place on November 11, 2020.
The Government of Canada has given little indication of alleviating or converting the strict travel restrictions that have been in place since March 2020, when the COVID-19 virus began to spread around the world.
Aviation stakeholders continue to point out that these prohibitions create disadvantages for Canada’s airports and airlines, and Now WestJet warns that Canadian operators are wasting shares with foreign competitors.
WestJet also faces the fact that it is complicated what could push the government to adopt another technique for restrictions, and corporate plans to reopen the US border. But it’s not the first time Before the end of 2020.
In this context, Sims continues to insist that testing and vaccines must drive demand, which is to reach the balance point.
Overview
Canada’s borders have been closed since March 2020, and bans come with general restrictions on all foreign travelers, the closure of the Canada-U. S. border, and a mandatory 14-day quarantine rule to enter Canada, adding Canadians. provincial restrictions.
View similar reports:
Canadian airlines, airports and other stakeholders have teamed up to urge the Canadian government to review these restrictions, but at this level there appear to be rapid change plans.
Speaking at the recent CAPA Live convention in October 2020, WestJet CEO Ed Sims explained: “I guess I guess why the government has adopted its social coverage stance from the beginning. But this has left Canadian aviation in a wonderful threat for more than seven months. ” and, through our estimate, between 15% and 20% of the market share has now shifted from Canadian-domiciled carriers to foreign carriers.
CAPA and OAG data indicate that WestJet formula seats for the week of October 19, 2020 have dropped by 74. 5%, and Sims has publicly said that approximately 70% of WestJet’s fleet is necessarily inactive or blocked.
Future schedules are difficult to predict, given the overall fluidity of the existing operating environment, however, WestJet’s seating capacity for the remainder of October 2020 will remain particularly lower than in 2019, as limitations limit foreigners and, in some cases, domestic ones for Canadians.
Sims said it’s “hard to know what cause will replace the government’s perspective,” but under pressure that he thought having successful, immediate or PCR tests 3 days before and five days later is the most productive way to eliminate quarantine. .
WestJet and its rival Air Canada are achieving COVID-19 on passengers, and Sims said the availability and distribution of ads for a vaccine are key elements for demand recovery.
Sims said it’s imaginable that testing can be fully deployed to all issues on your network during 1Q2021. The timing of a vaccine is “much harder to determine,” Sims said, adding that it could become available in 3Q2021 or 4Q2021.
The airline is also preparing for a prolonged closure of the Canada-U. S. border, Sims. Il said border restrictions would not be revised until late 2020 or after the U. S. presidential election in November. an intelligent possibility that the border will remain closed until Canadians can be convinced that the spread of COVID-19 and the number of deaths in the United States have been reduced to an appropriate level.
“Clearly it didn’t happen, and I think the cause will be america’s election or the president’s inauguration by the end of January. But anyway, it’ll be the end of the year,” he said.
Obviously, this presents a bigger challenge for WestJet and other Canadian operators, as in the colder months, canadian residents sometimes make e-books about trips to sunny destinations in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.
But Sims said he suspected that as winter approached, more Canadians, especially those fleeing home, would run the 40-14-day threat when they returned to Canada. Said.
Like airlines around the world, the personal westJet (purchased through Onex in December 2019) is running for money entry and creates a flow of money.
Sims said the airline had done such a clever task in cutting its money inlet that in some respects it allowed governments to say, “Well, they’ve gone bankrupt, they’re still there, so we have justification for providing express sectoral relief. “. “
He also noted that WestJet had withdrawn 72% of its constant prices from its business and transferred some of the constant expenses at variable prices.
However, Sims warned that if “we don’t see an increase in demand, we’ll want to look for more artistic tactics to generate monetary flexibility for money consumption. “
WestJet believes that, in the long term, it may be some time before a return to pre-crisis levels is requested. At the same time, the airline is adapting to its new truth by preparing for widespread testing across its network: its goal will be to show the effectiveness of testing as a way to update newly implemented quarantines.
But it is unclear when the Government of Canada will adopt a change of mindset, and time is running out for the country’s airlines as they try to remain globally competitive.
This report is based on an interview with Ed Sims, CEO of WestJet, presented to CAPA Live on November 14, 2020. Next month CAPA Live will take place on November 11, 2020.
The Canadian government has given little indication of alleviating or converting the strict travel restrictions that have been in place since March 2020, when the COVID-19 virus began to spread around the world.
Aviation stakeholders continue to note that these prohibitions create disadvantages for Canada’s airports and airlines, and Now WestJet warns that Canadian operators are wasting stocks with foreign competitors.
WestJet also faces the fact that it is complicated what could push the government to adopt another technique for restrictions, and corporate plans to reopen the US border. But it’s not the first time Before the end of 2020.
In this context, Sims continues to insist that testing and vaccines must drive demand, which is to reach the balance point.
Overview
Canada’s borders have been closed since March 2020, and bans come with general restrictions on all foreign travelers, the closure of the Canada-U. S. border, and a mandatory 14-day quarantine rule to enter Canada, adding Canadians. provincial restrictions.
View similar reports:
Canadian airlines, airports and other stakeholders have teamed up to urge the Government of Canada to review these restrictions, but at this level there appear to be rapid change plans.
Speaking at the recent CAPA Live convention in October 2020, WestJet CEO Ed Sims explained, “I guess I guess why the government has adopted its social coverage stance from the beginning. But this has left Canadian aviation in a wonderful threat for more than seven months. “and, through our estimate, between 15% and 20% of the percentage of the market has now moved from Canadian carriers domiciled in that country to foreign carriers.
Knowledge of CAPA and OAG shows that WestJet’s formula seats for the week of October 19, 2020 dropped by 74. 5%, and M. Sims has publicly stated that about 70% of WestJet’s fleet is necessarily inactive or frozen.
Future schedules are difficult to predict, given the overall fluidity of the existing operating environment, however, WestJet’s seating capacity for the remainder of October 2020 will remain particularly lower than in 2019, as limitations limit foreign and, in some cases, domestic Canadians.
WestJet capacity projections from September 28, 2020 to October 12, 2020
Source: CAPA – Aviation Center and OAG.
Sims said it’s “hard to know what cause will replace the government’s perspective,” but under pressure that he thought having successful, immediate or PCR tests 3 days before and five days later is the most productive way to eliminate quarantine. .
WestJet and its rival Air Canada are achieving COVID-19 s on passengers, and M. Sims stated that ing, advertising availability and vaccine distribution are key to demand recovery.
Sims said it’s imaginable that testing can be fully deployed to all issues on your network during 1Q2021. The timing of a vaccine is “much harder to determine,” Sims said, adding that it could become available in 3Q2021 or 4Q2021.
The airline is also preparing for a prolonged closure of the Canada-U. S. border, Sims. Il said border restrictions would not be revised until late 2020 or after the U. S. presidential election in November. an intelligent possibility that the border will remain closed until Canadians can be convinced that the spread of COVID-19 and the number of deaths in the United States have been reduced to an appropriate level.
“Clearly it didn’t happen, and I think the cause will be america’s election or the president’s inauguration by the end of January. But anyway, it’ll be the end of the year,” he said.
Obviously, this presents a bigger challenge for WestJet and other Canadian operators, as in the colder months, canadian residents sometimes make e-books about trips to sunny destinations in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.
But Sims said he suspected that as winter approached, more Canadians, especially those fleeing home, would run the 40-14-day threat when they returned to Canada. “I suspect you’ll see more things, ” he said.
Like airlines around the world, the personal westJet (purchased through Onex in December 2019) is running for money entry and creates a flow of money.
Sims said the airline had done such a clever task in cutting its cash inlet that in some respects it allowed governments to say, “Well, they’ve gone bankrupt, they’re still there, so we’re justified in giving express relief. “
He also noted that WestJet had withdrawn 72% of its constant prices from its business and transferred some of the constant expenses at variable prices.
However, Sims warned that if “we don’t see higher demand, we’ll have to look for more artistic tactics to generate monetary flexibility to decrease cash inlet. “
WestJet believes that, in the long term, it may be some time before a return to pre-crisis levels is requested. At the same time, the airline is adapting to its new truth by preparing for widespread testing across its network: its goal will be to show the effectiveness of testing as a way to update newly implemented quarantines.
But it is unclear when the Government of Canada will adopt a change of mindset, and time is running out for the country’s airlines as they try to remain globally competitive.