WestJet reported double-digit revenue growth from corporate
accounts, although passenger revenue dipped year over year in the second
quarter.
The Canadian carrier is still in the early days of corporate
business penetration outside its home market of Alberta but is "seeing a
lot of traction" in building overall corporate business, executive vice
president of commercial Bob Cummings said in WestJet's earnings call. The
energy-heavy Alberta market, however, continues to contract. During the
quarter, passenger revenue declined 1.8 percent to C$814.4 million, and overall
revenue increased 0.8 percent to C$949.3 million.
The carrier's new service to London's Gatwick Airport, which
began in May, has been "running at a completion rate of 100 percent"
and with above-average load factors, according to president and CEO Gregg
Saretsky. "That bodes well for potential new expansion of this line of
business," he said.
WestJet announced this week it would add "dozens of new
flights," both domestic and international, in its winter schedule. Among
those are new service between Regina, Sask., and Orlando and several new
flights from Toronto to destinations including Ottawa, San Jose and Vancouver.
Capacity increased 6.9 percent year over year during the
quarter, and traffic increased 10.6 percent, bumping WestJet's load factor up
2.7 percentage points to 80.8 percent. Yield declined 8.9 percent during the
quarter.
The carrier reported net earnings of C$36.7 million in the
quarter, down from C$61.6 million in the second quarter of 2015