As of today, Canadian ultra low cost carrier SWOOP is no more. The brand has been taken over by parent company WestJet following a deal made with pilots over pay and benefits.
John Gradek, a lecturer at McGill University who studies the airline industry states, “[This] has implications in terms of the choices that Canadians will have in terms of an alternative ultra-low-cost carrier. Although it started in 1996 as a regionally focused airline with generally cheaper prices, WestJet is no longer a discount airline. The loss of Swoop basically eliminates a carrier that was specializing in low cost and it’s going to be a loss to Canadian travellers."
Loyalty Lobby summarises the impact this will have on consumers. "WestJet has pretty much grown into a full-service carrier with routes all over North America and even international long-haul routes. Prices have increased accordingly as well. With SWOOP being absorbed by WestJet, it’s one less player in the skies. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Just a month after the integration of Swoop into WestJet was announced(in June), the company shut down another brand with a rather tainted image (Sunwing Airlines)."
SWOOP’s website now routes to a WestJet-hosted page, proclaiming the following message:
What happens when you mix Magenta and Teal? Well, technically it’s purple – but in this case, it’s more low fares to more destinations now that Swoop aircraft are a part of the WestJet fleet.
On October 29, 2023, Swoop and WestJet merged to provide even more affordable airfares to more cities throughout the WestJet network with the WestJet guest experience you’ve come to expect. We can’t wait to see you onboard.
With Westjet absorbing more of its own airline brands one can only assume the ultra low cost model and use of secondary airports was not profitable enough for the parent company. How these routes and hubs will be affected over the short and long term remains to be seen.
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