WestJet Looks East

The management team at WestJet was reviewing its growth plans in light of an anticipated merger of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines. The merger would result in a near monopoly of domestic air travel in Canada and a new set of opportunities and challenges for the handful of smaller airlines in the country. Under the circumstances, WestJet was considering whether it should shift from its focus of building on its success in Western Canada and expand into the East. The management team must analyze how fast and how significant an entry would be necessary from a competitive standpoint, how fast and how significant an entry the company could digest, and in the longer term, WestJet's prospects when competing against Air Canada and others.