The end of the road is near for freighter operations at WestJet. Cargo boss Kirsten de Bruijn has tendered her resignation, and the Canadian airline plans to wind down remaining freighter operations once it determines how to dispose of the four leased aircraft.
WestJet’s flirtation with operating a dedicated all-cargo airline alongside its main passenger business was short-lived, reflecting an overzealous reading of opportunities in the challenging Canadian market after airfreight demand temporarily skyrocketed for 18 months during the COVID crisis.
WestJet CEO Alexis von Ohensbroech earlier this month posted on LinkedIn that de Bruijn, who was recruited from Qatar Airways in 2022 to build out the dedicated cargo organization, had given her notice to leave, effective in June.
De Bruijn, whose title is executive vice president-cargo, told FreightWaves by email that the company has made a strategic decision to discontinue freighter operations but will continue to operate two charter routes for the time being while it determines how to divest the four Boeing 737-800 converted freighters it acquired.
“WestJet Cargo has reassessed its strategy regarding the dedicated cargo freighter operation and has made the decision to not continue the freighter operations as part of WestJet Group’s core strategy,” de Bruijn said.
The writing was on the wall for WestJet Cargo early last year. FreightWaves was first to report last August that WestJet had abandoned its scheduled freighter business one year after its launch because of weak sales. WestJet placed two cargo jets in storage and operated the other two on a limited basis under contract with businesses seeking airlift for specific needs.
WestJet missed its window of opportunity when Transport Canada took a year longer than expected to certify the passenger-to-freighter conversion of the Boeing 737-800s for commercial use because of heightened sensitivity about Boeing’s safety record following two deadly accidents and reports of shoddy production quality, per FreightWaves. Instead of launching service in 2022, the first WestJet Cargo flight didn’t take place until April 2023, when the air cargo market was cooling off.
WestJet’s strategy was based on high-frequency shuttles in a tight network marketed toward freight forwarders and other businesses. Scheduled service initially connected several cities in Canada and Mexico, as well as Los Angeles and Miami. The company determined that the air cargo market in Canada was underserved and that it could fill a niche between overnight express delivery and international long-haul service. Booming e-commerce demand during the pandemic influenced the decision to start a stand-alone freighter operation.
Air cargo experts say WestJet Cargo had a difficult business case. Narrowbody freighter aircraft are best suited for express delivery and postal services, or integrated logistics companies that use aircraft along with ground operations for time-definite delivery. They also make economic sense in narrow applications serving niche destinations where there are few competitors.
WestJet also was unable to wrest business from Cargojet, the dominant cargo carrier in Canada, and Air Canada. Cargojet has locked up business from integrated express carriers like Purolator and DHL, as well as large e-commerce platforms. Ultimately, the modest Canadian market wasn’t big enough for another all-cargo operator to successfully compete. Even Air Canada, which also launched its own cargo airline in response to pandemic demand, has scaled back freighter ambitions. Cargojet and Air Canada operate larger aircraft, such as the Boeing 767, that many consider better for regional air cargo operations than a 737-800.
De Bruijn’s moves to staff WestJet Cargo with experienced personnel from foreign airlines or feed cargo to Chicago to help logistics provider Flexport fill Boeing 747 freighters chartered from Atlas Air on outbound routes to Asia were unable to change the company’s fortunes.
WestJet Cargo pivoted the business last summer from scheduled service, which required it to fill the planes on its own, toward renting aircraft and crews to dedicated customers. But the charter business has also had difficulty gaining traction. WestJet Cargo continues to operate flights five days a week between Newark International Airport in New Jersey and Bermuda under a transportation agreement with Cargojet, de Bruijn said. It also flies about twice a month from Toronto to Havana and back.
“WestJet is exploring various opportunities for all these aircraft and no final decision has been taken yet on the final end of operations or what solution we will agree on,” de Bruijn said.
Potential options include negotiating a return of the aircraft to lessor BBAM Ltd. Partnership or subleasing them to another airline. WestJet is in a bind, according to aviation experts, because the market has a surplus of narrowbody freighters and there is little demand for capacity. WestJet won’t be able to resell the freighters “unless there is a fire sale,” said one cargo veteran who asked not to be identified so as not to jeopardize business relations with airlines.
Several smaller airlines, in fact, have also recently shuttered their freighter divisions because of shrinking business.
Slovakia-based AirExplore is slowly exiting the cargo charter business to focus on passenger flying. It is returning aircraft to lessors and subleasing some units to other carriers. SmartLynx Airlines is also giving up on the all-cargo business after losing a contract with DHL Express in Europe. Last year, parent company Avia Solutions Group also closed down regional cargo airline Bluebird Nordic, which was based in Iceland. Other operators have stopped adding aircraft or shrunk their fleets.
WestJet’s cargo division continues to manage shipments moving on the airline’s passenger aircraft, but people familiar with the airline say belly volumes are relatively modest. Earlier this month, WestJet announced a capacity purchase agreement with Virgin Atlantic to ship goods from Toronto to London. Essentially operating as a logistics company, WestJet has committed to pay Virgin Atlantic for about 22 tons of capacity per day and market the space to shippers in Canada looking to reach markets in the U.K. and beyond.
The Loadstar first reported about de Bruijn’s departure, but some of the reporting was not definitive or attributed to known public information.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at [email protected].
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