WestJet has announced a six-month delay in its planned integration of Sunwing Airlines, which the Calgary-based carrier acquired last year. The integration, which was initially set for October 2023, has now been pushed back to April 27, 2025.
Rick Jones, WestJet’s interim head of route planning, told a conference Monday that the postponement relates to pilot training as well as the measurement units used in the cockpit.
“We will continue to operate as we are,” he said during the virtual conference. “The integration timeline is postponed to ensure our crews have the necessary training to safely and efficiently operate the aircraft.”
Both airlines will continue with “business as usual” for their winter flight schedules, WestJet said in an email. However, the longer timeline means it will be nearly a year until aviators can fly each other’s planes, as pilot shortages continue to plague the industry.
Aviation expert John Gradek says that wrangling over worker seniority for pilots slated to fly under the same banner remains a point of contention.
“The pilots have to come to an agreement on the seniority list, and that’s not an easy task,” he said. “It’s a negotiation, and it can take some time.”
WestJet purchased Sunwing for $3.5 billion in a deal that closed in April 2022. The acquisition gave WestJet a foothold in the leisure travel market, which Sunwing specializes in. It also gave WestJet access to Sunwing’s fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, which are smaller and more fuel-efficient than WestJet’s existing fleet of Boeing 767s and 787s.
The integration of Sunwing into WestJet is expected to result in cost savings for the combined company. WestJet has said that it expects to save $200 million per year by 2025 as a result of the integration.
The delay in the integration is not expected to have a significant impact on WestJet’s financial results. The company has said that it still expects to meet its financial targets for 2023 and 2024.
