It seems as though WestJet is starting to take precautionary measures towards the impending arrival of Southwest Airlines into the Canadian market. The company announced on November 4th, 2014 that it would begin studying passenger’s reactions to thinner seats on their planes. These thinner seats are supposed to cut fuel costs as well as increase legroom by an extra inch (from 30-31). WOW!
As much as WestJet says this is an attempt to provide ultimate comfort for its passengers, I believe there lies an ulterior motive to these decisions. By making the seats thinner, WestJet essentially gets to increase profits by lowering costs. In doing so, in the event that Southwest airlines does attempt to make an appearance in the Canadian market, WestJet can cut its fares in order to continue to dominate its market share in the short range flight market. After all, Southwest airlines, if they do come to Canada, operate on the same value propositions and target the same customer segment as WestJet does right now. Being a successful company, Southwest will be able to come in and offer cheap flights right off the bat. Therefore, by transforming the inside of all of WestJet’s fleet, they are essentially preparing themselves for a game of survival of the fittest.
References:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/westjet-earnings-fall-20-per-cent-due-to-one-time-charge/article21436818/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/southwest-airlines-targets-canadian-expansion/article20493147/
http://www.billseye.ca/fun-facts.html