WestJet to Fully Integrate Sunwing Airlines

Shortly after announcing its intention to integrate the ultra-low-cost carrier Swoop, we’ve learned that WestJet also has plans to fully integrate Sunwing Airlines into its mainline operations. While no official announcements have been made by either side, other outlets have confirmed the details directly with WestJet and Sunwing Airlines.

While the timeline for this integration is not yet known, the end result is that Canada will have one less separate airline at some point in the future.

WestJet to Fully Integrate Sunwing Airlines

Earlier this year, WestJet Group completed its acquisition of Sunwing Airlines. At the time, it appeared that the two airlines planned to operate separately; however, that is set to change in the coming years.

As first reported by ch-aviation and later confirmed by PAX, WestJet eventually plans to fully integrate Sunwing Airlines into its mainline operations. 

Just last week, WestJet also confirmed that it will integrate its ultra-low-cost subsidiary Swoop into its mainline fleet by the end of October 2023. At present, there’s no confirmed timeline for the Sunwing integration; however, it’s expected to take up to a couple of years.

Once this happens, there will no longer be separate entities for WestJet, Swoop, and Sunwing; rather, all three will operate under the WestJet brand under a single air operator certificate. 

PAX has also reported that WestJet will eventually reconfigure the Swoop and Sunwing aircraft to bring them in line with what WestJet currently offers on most of its aircraft.

The reconfigured aircraft will add up to 13 more seats than are currently available in economy. The cabin would also offer 12 Premium seats at the front of the cabin, as well as a handful of seats with extra legroom scattered throughout the economy cabin.

It’s worth noting that neither WestJet nor Sunwing have yet to make official announcements about the integration or reconfiguration; however, now that it has been confirmed, it’s likely that we’ll learn more in the near future.

Integration Must Respect Acquisition Conditions 

As part of approving the WestJet Group’s acquisition of Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations, the Government of Canada placed a number of conditions on the merger, which are as follows:

• Extending Sunwing…