And some of our American shareholders asked us if we would consider it and we certainly saw no reason why not to do it. |
As a founding member of our organization, Don's focus on our corporate culture has assisted WestJet in becoming a leader in our industry. ... His new role in this important aspect of our organization will set the stage for continued success. |
Both Air Transat and Air Canada went to a variable voting structure and we were the oddball, |
Both Arthur Scace and Hugh Bolton's unique and varied experiences are welcome additions to WestJet's Board of Directors. We are fortunate that Mr. Scace and Mr. Bolton have accepted these positions, and we look forward to the contributions they will make. |
During this quarter, we have witnessed record breaking load factors as well as improved yields, all of which we have achieved while continuing to add capacity. This accomplishment, which is hard to attain in the airline industry, is one we have now achieved over the past three quarters. |
For the past three quarters we have simultaneously increased yield, load factors in the face of increased capacity. |
Foreign ownership has declined somewhat in recent months with the run-up in the price of fuel, as the sector's been a little bit out of favor, but it's still worth our while to do it (reclassify the shares) in preparation for when that reverses, |
I don't think it's coming to any resolution. It's continuing down this very slow and arduous path. |
It isn't so much the absolute price of oil, as it is the increasing price, ... If we sell seats based on $50 oil and then fly people at $65 oil, obviously it's not going to be good for earnings. |
It may not be quite at the same prime times or the same prime times of the year that they might like, but the fact is there will still be opportunities. |
It's a very large software system. It's a huge project. Our hope is that by the summer of 2006, we'll have it in place. We have been limited in the past from offering service upgrades or refundable tickets or multiple changes without fees. |
On an available-seat-mile basis, our fuel expense was 11.9 per cent higher in the first quarter of 2006 versus the same period in 2005. We managed to mitigate this expense with the early retirement of our less fuel-efficient 200-series aircraft. |
Some people worry that we're going to make the same mistakes that Canadian Airlines did, and I say, 'No, we're not, because we have a much lower cost structure.' And it's not frills that we'll be adding. It's convenience. |
The changes to the executive structure reinforces the commitment that WestJet has to its guests, ... Russ' proven leadership and business judgment as an executive will help further strengthen our WestJet Executive team. |
The only way for the market to accept this reality is if fares are advanced slowly and cautiously, and the very low fares do still appear from time-to-time in the market to allow those who will not travel without them to have access to our service. |