A Sunwing aircraft is parked at Montreal Trudeau airport in Montreal on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Experts say WestJet's decision to shut down Sunwing Airlines and fold it into its mainline operations will cut service and boost fares — particularly for Western Canada and smaller cities across the country.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
June 19, 2023 - 4:30 PM
Experts say WestJet's decision to shut down Sunwing Airlines and fold it into its main operations will mean less service and higher fares — particularly in Western Canada and smaller cities across the country.
Sunwing told employees it was being absorbed by its new owner on Wednesday, less than a week after WestJet announced plans to shutter discount subsidiary Swoop.
John Gradek, who teaches at McGill University's aviation management program, says the latest move is bad news for consumers looking to head to warmer destinations, given the narrower flight options and pricier tickets likely to result from a merger of former competitors.
Aviation consultant Rick Erickson says Air Transat and Air Canada will ensure a healthy mix of competition for sun destinations, but that travellers in smaller markets ranging from Saskatoon to St. John's, N.L., may well have to shell out more.
In a report from October, the Competition Bureau said WestJet and Sunwing comprise 37 per cent of seat capacity on direct flights to sun destinations, and 72 per cent from Western Canada.
Sunwing Airlines president Len Corrado told employees in a memo last week that the integration with Calgary-based WestJet, which acquired the discount carrier in May, is expected to take up to a couple of years as part of a strategy to unlock greater scale and growth opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2023.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly described the timeline given in a memo for Sunwing Airline's integration with WestJet as within two years. In fact, it is expected to take a couple of years from the start of integration efforts.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2023