A WestJet Boeing 737 Max aircraft at Vancouver International Airport in 2021. The airline has ordered 60 737 Max 10s and seven 787-9 Dreamliners from Boeing.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Calgary-based WestJet Airlines has ordered 67 Boeing BA-N planes, making its largest aircraft purchase as it plots a long-term plan for growth.
The order, which includes 60 737 Max 10s and seven 787-9 Dreamliners, is slated to be delivered between 2029 and 2034, said Alexis von Hoensbroech, the airline’s chief executive officer.
WestJet also has options to buy an additional 25 737s and four 787s. Including planes already contracted for, the deal brings WestJet’s Boeing order book to 123 planes and 40 options. The previous orders are expected to be delivered by 2028.
The purchase of the 67 planes is worth US$10-billion at list prices, excluding the optional purchases and before customary discounts.
“We want to make sure that we can keep growing beyond 2028,” Mr. von Hoensbroech said in an interview. The bigger fleet will allow WestJet to reach more destinations, increase route frequencies and replace smaller aircraft, he said.
He said WestJet received a “significant” discount on the list prices from Virginia-based Boeing but declined to say how much.
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Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, said in a statement: “This agreement between WestJet and Boeing reflects a pragmatic approach to doing business, creating new opportunities, economic benefits, and long-term jobs on both sides of the border, while ensuring that WestJet is well-equipped to grow, offer more options for passengers, and better connect Canadians.”
WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline after Air Canada AC-T, has about 36 per cent of the country’s seat capacity. It flies 147 737s, seven 787s and 39 De Havilland Dash-8s to more than 100 destinations.
The 737 Max 10, awaiting certification by the U.S. regulator, seats as many as 230 passengers. This compares with its smaller cousins, the Max 8 and 9, which hold as many as 210 and 220, respectively.
Chris Murray, a managing director at ATB Securities, said a bigger fleet of larger planes will let WestJet keep its stable of aircraft young and efficient. The Max 10 would allow the airline to better serve the routes between Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, he said by phone. The 787 could lead WestJet’s return to a major presence in Toronto and Eastern Canada, he said, offering widebody service to overseas destinations.
While the 787s could help open overseas routes and expand partnerships with other carriers, they still will not dent Air Canada’s dominance in international markets, he said.
“This keeps WestJet competitive with Air Canada in the domestic market and also with Porter,” Mr. Murray said. “I think it allows them to, at a minimum, maintain market share and probably open some opportunities on new routes and other places that they can tap into.”
Private equity company Onex Corp. ONEX-T bought WestJet for $3.5-billion in 2019 and sold a 25-per-cent stake to Delta Air Lines DAL-N and Korean Air in May for US$550-million.
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WestJet’s much anticipated initial public offering is on hold awaiting more favourable market conditions, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Globe and Mail is not naming the person because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
“Onex has historically been a reasonably long-term holder of other companies, but they are in the business of monetizing those ownership positions,” Mr. Murray said. “It’s probably a logical expectation at some point there would be an IPO.”
The order for the 67 Boeing planes was announced as Canada and the U.S. are in tense trade negotiations. Canada is trying to get the U.S. to lift tariffs on Canadian metals, automobiles and other goods. Some Canadians have adopted a shop-at-home tactic as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens Canada’s sovereignty and manufacturing sector.
When asked why WestJet is buying U.S.-made planes rather than those from Europe-based Airbus, Mr. von Hoensbroech said the airline wants all its jets to be from the same maker for efficiency reasons. This way it can use the same crews, training and parts supplies. He noted that Boeing employs 1,500 people making parts in Winnipeg. Boeing makes the 737 in Seattle and the 787 in North Charleston, S.C.
“This order supports manufacturing jobs on both sides of the border,” Mr. von Hoensbroech said. “This is an endorsement of the close partnership between those countries.”
“Airbus builds great planes. I did a lot of work with Airbus in a prior life. They are fantastic,” said Mr. von Hoensbroech, who worked at Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines before joining WestJet as chief executive in 2022. “But there is a benefit to having one aircraft type because it takes away a lot of complexity.”
“We do what’s right for our business. We do what’s right for our airline. We do what’s right for Canadians,” he said.