WestJet marks 20 years of high-care, low-fare flying

CALGARY, Canada – Twenty years ago, WestJet launched its first flight and began liberating Canadian travelers from the high cost of air travel. Today, the airline celebrates two decades of success with a new Canadian-inspired logo, a birthday seat sale and more.

“In just 20 years, WestJet has established itself as a great Canadian success story,” said Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO. “From humble beginnings, we have grown to become an international airline and a strong contributor to the growth of Calgary, the province and the country. I would like to thank our nearly 12,000 WestJetters for their incredible dedication to delivering a remarkable guest experience through their caring, people-driven service, and our guests for their 20 years of loyalty and support.”

“We launched WestJet to make a difference in the lives of Canadians,” said Clive Beddoe, co-founder of WestJet and Chair of the Board of the Directors. “We wanted to do things differently right from the beginning, lowering fares, changing rules that didn’t make sense and making it possible for more people than ever before to travel by air. Over the past 20 years, we’ve helped to connect families, fulfilled vacation dreams and made business travel more affordable so companies could grow and prosper. WestJet’s success is a testament to our WestJetters’ hard work and caring commitment and I thank them for this. It’s been a wonderful 20 years, and we look forward to many more.”

This year, as part of its birthday celebrations, WestJet is rolling out its new logo featuring a stylized blue and teal maple leaf. The logo is intended to denote WestJet’s proud Canadian heritage as the company continues its international expansion. First unveiled on its 767-300 aircraft last year, the logo will appear on new WestJet aircraft being delivered in 2016 as well as on westjet.com, airport signage, boarding passes and other branded items.

WestJet also launched a 20th Birthday Sale today featuring great savings on flights and vacation packages to select destinations in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. The sale runs until March 7, 2016, for travel from April 1, 2016 until June 28, 2016. And as an added birthday gift on February 29 only, all WestJet Rewards members will receive 20 bonus WestJet dollars when they register and book a flight with their WestJet Rewards ID number and fly between April 1 and June 28, 2016.

WestJet guests travelling with the airline today may see frontline WestJetters wearing “vintage” uniform pieces from the past 20 years. At the airline’s Calgary campus, the Honourable Marc Garneau, federal Transport Minister, will join WestJetters for a special birthday ceremony.

On February 29, 1996, WestJet launched with 220 employees and three aircraft serving five destinations: Vancouver, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. Today, nearly 12,000 WestJetters support more than 140 aircraft serving 102 destinations in more than 20 countries.