WestJet Cheap One Way Airfares

Low-fare airliner WestJet offers one-way discounted trips to selected destinations, and may soon offer cheap business class airline tickets.

Canada has only 2 major airlines, Air Canada and WestJet. Competition in the Canadian duopoly is limited to the duopolists matching prices, taking care not to undercut the other. Canadians shouldn't expect an air travel price war any time soon.

Still, the two airliners are matching several discounted trips while offering bargains on some one-way trips not duplicated by the other.

Consider WestJet's 35%-off discounts for one-way fares from Toronto. WestJet airline prices for each trip match discount sales from Air Canada.

• Calgary ... CDN$179
• Edmonton ... $179
• Halifax ... $120
• Moncton ... $120
• St. John's, NFLD ... $144
• Vancouver ... $204
• Winnipeg ... $134.

In addition, WestJet is offering one-way discounts from Toronto to other cities that are not part of an Air Canada promotion.

• Charlottetown ... CDN$124
• Fort Lauderdale ... $149
• Fort Myers ... $159
• Kelowna ... $204
• Las Vegas ... $169
• Orlando ... $149
• Saint John, New Brunswick ... $120.

WestJet's sale applies to travel up to mid-December 2007 and must be booked by August 15, 2007 - a week before Air Canada's deadline.

WestJet's discounted tickets target 14 Canadian and American cities. Air Canada has a larger flight network and extends its one-way sale to 25 cities. Only 7 of those overlap with West Jet 's destinations.

Still, some critics say that Air Canada is cutting into shareholder profits by sparring with one-way ticket discounts.

WestJet's costs are over 40% less than Air Canada's. WestJet employs non-union workers, flies to a select set of destinations and operates one aircraft type (737) which cuts down on training and maintenance costs. In contrast, Air Canada has a unionized workforce, uses a fleet of multiple aircraft types, and serves a global route network.

Who is going to win the battle of Canadian airline discounts? In 2006, Air Canada earned US$27 million (CDN$25 million) from revenues of US$11 billion (CDN$10 billion). In contrast, WestJet earned US$124.7 million (CDN$114.7 million) on revenues of US$1.7 billion (CDN$ 1.6 billion). Air Canada is more known for first class airline tickets; Westjet is associated with cheap business class airline tickets and has recently signed a business deal with Wal-Mart.

WestJet's competitive advantages point to more consumers visiting its website to find cheap airfares on WestJet.com. The bottom line is that WestJet's promotions garner higher profits than Air Canada's inexpensive one-way airfares can generate. Therefore, WestJet can offer more cost-effective flights.