Walk now, run later: WestJet

By Collin Gallant on June 27, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

WestJet Link is only in its first full week of operation in Medicine Hat, but already Hatters are wondering if and when the regional route to Calgary could add more direct flights elsewhere.

The short answer, according to company officials, is not in the short term.

“You have to walk before you can run, but we’ll see what happens in the future,” Robert Palmer, WestJet’s manager of public affairs told the News on June 22, the first day of the much-anticipated service..

“People have already mentioned that they’d like to see a flight to Edmonton. That could be a challenge for use, because you’d take people away from your Calgary flight. Splitting the two means neither might work.”

The basic business model is to deliver passengers to Calgary International Airport, where WestJet has a hub, and is offering pricing breaks when passengers make connections to WestJet flights elsewhere.

City officials are stressing that adding a new carrier is major positive, but customers are required to keep them in place and boost Medicine Hat as an attractive market for expanding service.

“If you don’t use it you can lose it,” Mayor Ted Clugston told a crowd at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony last week right before the first flight arrived.

He said the goal was to boost volume at the city-owned airport by adding more flight options. That would assumedly lower prices below the point where travellers would consider flying, rather than driving to Calgary to meet connecting flights.

“It’s hard to consider because we like our cars,” said Clugston. “We’re saying ‘make sure you take a look at flying out of Medicine Hat first.'”

WestJet Link is operated in Medicine Hat and five other smaller centres by Pacific Coastal Airlines, which uses a 34-seat Saab 340b aircraft.

Air Canada Express, operated by Air Georgian, uses a 19-seat Beachcraft for its daily service to Calgary.

This spring, smaller air carrier Integra announced it would stop offering direct service between Medicine Hat and Edmonton, following reports of low ticket sales.

The city began actively courting WestJet in 2012 when the airline announced it would begin ordering 80-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft to service well-travelled routes to mid-sized airports with a service known as WestJet Encore.

That plane simply has too many seats for the current local demand, said Palmer.

The new route, he stressed, gives travellers easier access to the airline’s full schedule of flights.

“It’s important for airlines to be able to feed their hubs … and Calgary is our largest by far,” said Palmer. “In the summer we have 147 daily flights to 50 destinations on a non-stop basis. When you board a flight here in Medicine Hat, you have tremendous choice to go from Calgary to the world.”

Palmer also stressed that plans could expand in the future, depending on demand, and business conditions are also changing.

He said the introduction of competition to the market, such as when Encore was introduced, lowers fares and increases willingness to travel.

“There’s no reason to believe that we won’t see the same thing here in the months to come,” he said. “Not today or next week, but over several months, you’ll see that fares will drop considerably and more people will be travelling from Medicine Hat.”

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