WestJet in 2009: The Fleet Expansion Decision

Thirteen years after it began operations with three airplanes, WestJet is the second-largest airline in Canada. It has grown revenues at an annual rate of 37 per cent per year for the past 11 years, and is poised to become the country’s dominant airline in the future. As it has grown, WestJet seems to have made changes to its original strategy of low-cost, no-frills, point-to-point, single-class service. The case examines WestJet’s strategy over the years and focuses on the company’s latest decision point: whether to add smaller planes to its single-model Boeing fleet. The objective of the case is to examine changes in a company’s strategy over time, and to review the potential impact of these changes on a company’s future performance.